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saint_pat
Reviews
Airplane! (1980)
"Surely you can't be serious?"
"I've never been more serious in my life. And don't call me Shirley."
Such one liners set the pattern for the whole film in this zany ZAZ (David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker) comedy.
SPOILERS
The story concerns a man (Robert Hays) traumatized by the war (which war?) who gets on a plane to try to win back his girlfriend (Elaine Dickinson), a stewardess. His girlfriend has just broken up with him because of his drinking problem (he keeps missing his mouth and pouring water all over his head). Unfortunately, when the plane's crew is incapacitated by food poisoning, it's up to Hays to save the day.
Of course the plot simply serves as a foundation for some hysterically funny sight gags and one liners. The fun of watching any ZAZ film is you look at each frame and pick apart everything wrong in the picture. The cast of mostly serious actors does a great job playing it straight while saying the most outrageous lines. Who'll ever forget all the things that Lloyd Bridges' character picked the wrong day to give up? ZAZ cheerfully poke fun at the Airport movies, all those annoying movie cliques, and even commercials giving them all the raspberry.
I watch this whenever I feel down and it never fails to cheer me up.
Song of the South (1946)
An unjustly maligned film
I am really annoyed by Disney's decision to withhold Song of the South from release. They seem to think that by banning this film they could appease the charge of spreading racism. In fact, by banning this film they have given the false impression that Song of the South is a racist film that would corrupt children.
As a previous viewer pointed out, the film does NOT depict slavery. It takes place in the years following the civil war. Yes, it shows blacks as servants of whites, but this did indeed occur didn't it? Nor does it depict blacks as entirely submissive servants to whites. Look at the way Uncle Remus defies Johnny's mother by covering for him. Uncle Remus has his own subtle ways of rebelling against his white employers. What's more, Uncle Remus is not a racist caracature. He is a kind and smart man with a lot of common sense.
The film even takes on race relations in the friendship Johnny strikes up with Uncle Remus and a black boy. We end of disapproving of Johnny's mother's narrow minded attitude toward their relationship. This is probably the closest the non-political Disney studios could come to making a liberal film.
It's incredible therefore that it is the NAACP that protested this film whenever it was released instead of the KKK. The NAACP reminds me more of little Johnny's white prejudiced mother than campaigners for racial equality.
I am even more angered by Disney's decision to keep this film off the video shelves. They probably could have gotten Song of the South out on video after it's 1986 release with minimal controversy. Instead, by banning this film they have helped to harden opinions on both sides between those who want to keep this film off the video shelves (many of whom probably haven't even seen it), and those who want it released. They have made a political firestorm of their own creation.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
An allegory on Communism or McCarthyism?
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a very scary horror film about pods from space who take over a small town. It is also a great allegory, but what on? Some see it as an allegory on the spread of Communism. Others see it as an allegory on the spread of McCarthyism.
Certainly the portrayal of the pod people is how Americans perceived the Russians in the fifties, cold and emotionless. The way the pod people are put to work toiling in the greenhouses resembles how Russians were put to work during Stalin's five year plans. The way the new ideology starts among the neighbors and then spreads across the country certainly resembles how Americans saw the spread of Communism in their country. On the other hand...
Notice how right from the beginning, the police are in on the conspiracy. They are the force that rounds up all the non-conformers as enemies. Notice too how all the townfolk help the police round up anyone who shows an emotion or independent thought. This resembles the ultra-conservative force of McCarthyism that was sweeping the country in the fifties.
Which is the correct interpretation? I would love to hear any opinions.
Frenzy (1972)
Great British Hitchcock
On the day that I watched this film, I was in the perfect frame of mind to understand Richard Blaney. Blaney has been fired from his job as a bartender after his boss accuses him of stealing drinks. I had just been fired by my boss over something small which made me pretty angry. This film actually cheered me up as it made my day look like a holiday compared to Blaney's. Soon, Blaney's ex-wife falls victim to the necktie murderer and Blaney finds himself the prime suspect.
SOME MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD
This film is easily Hitchcock's most violent and disturbing film. It's also one of his best. Hitchcock gets a good feel for the London locations with its pubs and fruit stands and the strong British accents. There are some stunning shots (the opening shot of London, the scene where the camera pulls back silently out of an apartment building, the scene where the camera points just outside a courtroom), exciting moments, and hilarious scenes (the police inspector having to put up with his wife's hideous gourmet meals).
Most intriguing is the way both the killer and the innocent hero are portrayed. Compare them when they're shown standing side-by-side. Blaney is a disheveled looking hot tempered man with a fading jacket, messy oily dark hair, and a scowl on his face. He drinks too much and has a history of violent outbursts. Blaney is perhaps Hitchcock's least likable hero. In contrast the killer is a well dressed, well groomed, fair-haired man. He is charming towards customers, tries to help Blaney when he can, and likes to eat fruit. You would think you could guess which one the killer would be, but you would be wrong. As it turns out, the killer likes more than just fruit...
Like in Strangers on a Train, the innocent and killer are connected in some way. The killer ends up acting out the innocent's aggressions. It is perhaps not an accident that Blaney is friends with the killer even though he doesn't know who he is. But while in Strangers on a Train the innocent ultimately proves to be incapable of murder, the innocent in this film proves to us that he is indeed capable.
This film is certainly not for the faint of heart.
Jules et Jim (1962)
Chaotic "classic"
I had just seen Francois Truffaut's terrific film The 400 Blows and therefore had great expectations when I saw this film. What a disappointment! I came away feeling completely baffled and unmoved. Why this film is considered a classic of the French cinema I'll never know.
The story is about two friends, Jules a German, and Jim a Frenchman, and their relationship with Catherine, a woman to whom they are both attracted to. The story covers their relationship from before the First World War to the rise of Nazi Germany.
I didn't much like Jules and Jim. They were both irresponsible womanizers and were disloyal even to each other. I liked Catherine even less. She was contemptuous towards everyone and used everyone around her. I was annoyed when Jules kept telling her that he would love her no matter what she did to him. How does Truffaut expect to build a sense of tragedy when we don't care about these people? I found myself wanting to bang their heads together.
Incidents occur which seem to have no baring on the plot. When the war arrives and Jules and Jim find themselves on the opposite side of the trenches, Truffaut devotes only a few minutes to the war and absolutely nothing to the psychological effects on Jules and Jim. After the war their friendship resumes as if nothing had ever happened! Truffaut might just as well have cut this entire subplot. Another annoying thing, Truffaut rushes the film along at top speed as if he is afraid to slow down. To fill in the gaps, he uses intrusive narration to tell us everything that is happening and what the characters are thinking. Why not simply slow down and show us what the characters are thinking.
It's a bad sign when you find yourself cheering at the film's supposedly tragic ending. I realize I am opening up myself to controversy by lambasting an established classic, but I have to review what I saw.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
A film about alienation
Though marketed as a horror film, this is really a moving drama about alienation. The boy is a disturbed child who's unnatural abilities have caused him to be ostrasized by his peers. The child psychiatrist is also disturbed; a confrontation with a former patient of his has left him feeling guilty and has put his marriage on the rocks. Both characters will seek redemption through each other.
I responded very strongly to this film. Anyone who has ever felt alienated from society will identify with Cole Sear and Malcom Crowe as I did. Director Shyamalan creates a creepy and melancholy atmosphere and sustains it for the whole of the film.
A word about the famous "twist" ending. It would urge people not to give it away in their comments even after inserting a SPOILERS warning. The film is highly dependent on viewers not knowing the ending. I saw this film on the first weekend that it was released when I didn't even know there was going to be a twist ending. I was completely blown away by it and felt a chill going across my body that lasted several days.
Also worth seeing; Shyamalan's underrated followup Unbreakable.
Vertigo (1958)
Hitch's masterpiece!
Although Psycho is perhaps Hitchcock's most notorious film, I don't think there's any question that Vertigo is Hitchcock's masterpiece. This is a haunting, intensely moving, and tragic film.
Where to begin? This is the story of a man names Scottie Ferguson, a former detective who has recently retired from the force after his acrophobia inadvertently caused the death of a man. Scottie is recruited by his old friend Gavin Elster to go back on the job and follow his wife. It seems that Gavin's wife Madeleine has become possessed by the spirit of a deceased ancestor. Or is she? As we are about to learn, nothing is quite as it seems at first.
It is fascinating to look at the multiple ways this film can be viewed. It can be seen as a story about a man who is attracted to a dead woman, a cynical look at how men exploit women, or a study in male impotence. Pay special attention to the story that the man in the book shop tells Scottie about Carlotta Valdes. It is important in pointing out the parallels Carlotta's story has to the events that are about to transpire. Watch the scene where Scottie and Madeleine visit a tree stump in the forest. It is interesting to see how the characters end up repeating all their actions, visiting the same places, and making the same mistakes as if they were caught up in a whirlpool (hence the symbolism in the opening credits).
The back story about the making of this film is interesting as well. Hitchcock was infatuated with actress Grace Kelly and would remake many other actresses in her image. Hitchcock was disappointed when Vera Miles got pregnant and was unable to star in Vertigo. Fortunately, Hitchcock did a very good job remaking Kim Novak in Vera Miles' image. No wonder this is considered to be Hithcock's most personal film.
Hitchcock directs this film in glowing colour creating a dreamlike atmosphere and Bernard Hermann created one of his all-time greatest music score's to accompany us through this film. It is worth buying on CD to play all on its own.
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
There are things about him you couldn't understand, things you shouldn't understand
SPOILERS
Paul Reubens stars as Pee-Wee Herman, a man-child who must travel cross-country when his beloved bicycle is stolen. Along the way, he will encounter such characters as a deceased truck driver ("don't forget to tell them that Large Marge sent you"), an escaped convict (he cut the tag off one of those DO NOT REMOVE UNDER PENALTY OF LAW signs), a hobo who won't stop singing folk songs, and a bratty child star. He has been told by a gypsy that his bike lies in the basement of the Alamo. Unfortunately, the Alamo doesn't have a basement ("they don't tell you those kind of things").
Former animator Tim Burton was the perfect choice to direct this live action cartoon, and Danny Elfman's jokey score is a further asset.
Some people I know won't watch this film because they don't like Pee-Wee. Hey, how can you not like a guy who'll dance before a biker gang, encourage a waitress to follow her dreams, and even save icky snakes from a fire? This is one family film that adults can enjoy alongside their kids.
Lord of the Flies (1963)
A different take on a highly analyzed story
I would like to offer a different take on how this film should be seen. Most people see Lord of the Flies as a film about the descent of a group of schoolboys into savagery. I see it as a story about the collapse of democracy and the rise of totalitarism.
Allow me to elaborate on that one. William Golding wrote his novel in the years following World War 2. Golding had observed to his dismay the collapse of German democracy and the rise of Hitler's Nazi regime. Democracy failed in Germany primarily because the German people wanted it to. Hitler then proceeded to crush all opposition and remilitarize Germany, much like Jack seduced the schoolboys to join him and hunt down Ralph after Ralph had been fairly elected. Similarly in the USSR Stalin came to power and hunted down Trotsky and all his dissenters. In book and film, Ralph becomes a heroic Trotskyist figure who opposes Jack and his brutal Stalinists.
Both book and film provide a disturbing look at the triumph of totalitarism. The final scenes of flames enveloping the island are suitably apocalyptic.
M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (1931)
An allegory on pre-Nazi Germany
I'm surprised how few people have pointed out how this film fore-shadows the coming of the Third Reich to Germany. "M" was released two years before the Nazis seized power. Fritz Lang had trouble making it because the films original title "Murderers Among Us", caused many Nazi Party members to assume it was about them. Of course, they weren't entirely wrong....
Written by Lang's wife (who would later be co-opted by the Nazis herself), it tells the story of a child murderer terrorizing Berlin and the attempts of both the police and the criminal underworld to capture him. Lang shows us unsettling parallels between both the police and the mobsters in their methods. Peter Lorre gives a remarkable performance as the compulsive child murderer who is unable to control his devious impulses. Is this how the Germans perceived the Jews? When an "M" is stenciled on the back of the killer's coat, his fate is sealed. If the "M" on his coat was replaced by a star of David, then this WOULD be Nazi Germany. Filmed in moody black & white with naturalistic sound and minimal use of dialogue, one almost gets the feeling one is watching a documentary.
What is so fascinating to me is the gradual switch in sympathies we feel as we watch the film. In the beginning we find ourselves identifying with the mob in their efforts to catch the killer. Yet by the end, we no longer wish to identify with these revenge obsessed crazies. We find ourselves sympathizing with the cowaring killer. The killer may be sick, but the people that persue him are a lot sicker. No wonder the Nazis found this film so unnerving.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Puts the sci in sci-fi
2001: A Space Odyssey is arguably the greatest science fiction movie ever made. The reason I regard it as such is the fact that unlike so many other movies of the genre, this really has SCIENCE in it. It's incredible how many sci-fi movies have no science in them at all.
Observe the scenes on board the space station and the spacecraft Discovery. Most science fiction films don't explain how it is that there is gravity on spaceships and stations rather than weightlessness. This film shows how a makeshift gravity is produced by rotating the spacecraft to produce inertia around the inside of the ship. Who will ever forget that scene where Frank Poole is shown running around Discovery like a rodent? Observe those scenes where David Bowman and Frank Poole go outside in their spacesuits and spacepods to make reparations. In other space films there would be fancy sound effects and their jobs would have been completed quickly. In 2001, these scenes are done in complete silence and the jobs are completed in real time. This may make it seem less riveting than Star Wars, but you find yourself thinking; this is how it would actually be in real life.
Never has space been captured looking so large, cold, bleak, yet beautiful. In a Star Trek film, if you wanted to go some place you would just go into warp 4. Not so in this film. In 2001, it takes months for the Discovery to get to Jupiter and during that time the ship just seems to hang in mid air motionless. Kubrick really makes you feel the distances between planets.
For those viewers intending to watch 2001, I recommend only seeing it letterboxed. For best viewing, see it on the biggest screen possible preferably with the sound connected to the stereo and the lights dimmed. This is truly one of those films which you must allow to take you in as in the theaters.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Title refers not to the living dead, but the dead living
SPOILERS
Night of the Living Dead is a terrifying, landmark horror film. It is about seven people who take refuge in an abandoned house in the countryside from the zombies roaming outside. It seems the newly deceased are being revived and turned into flesh-eating monsters. Unfortunately, those aren't the only monsters they have to contend with, there's each other too.
George A. Romero directs in gritty black & white (by choice not necessity). This is very effective as it adds to the claustrophobic mood of the film. It almost looks like a documentary, bringing to mind the look and feel of the Vietnam era during which the film was made (look at the final scenes in particular).
It took me a while to realize it, but the title of this film does NOT refer to the zombies. It refers to the living people who are in a dead state of mind.
Example: Harry and Ben waste no time in taking an intense dislike of each other. They proceed to fight over who should have the gun, whether to go for help, and most of all, whether to stay upstairs or barricade themselves in the cellar. Guess who's right? Then there's the bickering between Harry and Helen. Harry tries to bully her, while Helen whines away, driving him crazy. Harry and Helen's daughter Karen is fast slipping away from being bitten by one of the zombies. Barbara, already in shock from her first encounter with the ghouls, wisely decides to withdraw from the proceedings by becoming catatonic. All the characters are already "dead" in their own way.
It's ironic that while battling monsters, the characters should all turn into them. I guess there's nothing quite like an outbreak of flesh eating zombies to bring out your selfish, cowardly instincts to the surface.
Unbreakable (2000)
A true original, criminally underrated
I was really disappointed in the negative and/or lukewarm reviews when this film first came out. 'Unbreakable' is every bit as good if not better than 'The Sixth Sense'. But while the Sixth Sense was an excellent updating of ghost stories, Unbreakable is a true original. It is a super hero tale set in the real world.
Perhaps the subject matter is what turned some critics off. Yet director Shyamalan treats his film with utmost intelligence and seriousness. In fact this is really an intimate character drama about two people who are, for one reason or another depressed and dissatisfied with their lives, and how their paths interlock.
Bruce Willis gives an excellent performance as a security guard who feels unhappy with his job (I would too if I were a security guard). Samuel L. Jackson is also excellent as the crippled and slightly nutty comic book collector who believes that superheroes really do walk the earth.
See it!
Cliffhanger (1993)
entertaining action film gone awry
***spoilers***
Cliffhanger starts out riveting but ends less so. The opening sequence was REALLY frightening. I don't recommend anyone who has acrophobia seeing this film. There are moments in this film that take your breath away. There's a heist that takes place between two moving planes, and numerous sequences where Sylvester Stallone is hanging by the tip of his fingers over mid-air with nothing but hundreds of miles underneath him.
Unfortunately about midway through the film starts to go awry. Instead of more cliffhanging sequences there is simply unpleasant violence. The bad guys start shouting at each other and characters start killing each other. It's as though the filmakers ran out of story and had to find a way out. The scene in which John Lithgow shoots one of his gang is, I suppose, supposed to show how evil he is but instead it shows how stupid the filmakers are. The film ends up leaving your ears ringing instead of leaving you feeling exhilarated.
Still, this film is worth a try for any action fan just for it's first half.
Communion (1989)
What are we to believe?
Ever read 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe'? Remember that scene where Peter and Susan talk to the professor because they're worried about Lucy? Lucy claims that she visited another world by stepping inside a wardrobe. The professor responds by stating quite logically, "either she is lying, she is mad, or she is telling the truth. Lucy is quite a truthful person, and one only needs to look at her to see that she is not mad. Therefore for now we must assume that she is telling the truth."
That statement perfectly describes Whitley Strieber's very strange case. If he is lying, then why has he passed numerous lie detector tests? If he is crazy, then why have numerous doctors failed to diagnose him with schizophrenia, temporal lobe epilepsy, etc. And why have numerous people had strange experiences at his cabin? As Arthur Conan Doyle once said, "Once you rule out the impossible..."
I would highly recommend people watch this very scary film. The scenes at Strieber's cabin and while he is hypnotized were really creepy. They left a lasting impression on me. Christopher Walken gives a compelling performance as Whitley Strieber (Strieber probably isn't this eccentric in real life).
I wish I could say this film was perfect but this was not so. The scenes in between the 'abduction' sequences were less compelling, and the film drags on at least ten minutes past when it should have ended. Still the film is a good introduction to the alien abduction phenomenon and to Strieber's book. It may make you leave the lights on at night.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
A mystical, awe inspiring film.
SOME MINOR SPOILERS
CETK is a mystical, almost religious experience. The film focuses on a man named Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) and how he is changed when he sees a UFO. He and a group of other people who have spotted UFOs form a sort of cult. Meanwhile the government and a group of scientists are investigating a series of UFO sightings. Their investigations will lead them to first contact with aliens (hence the title of the film).
Do you remember what it was like when you were a kid and witnessed a fireworks display? Have you ever gone out into the countryside and stared up at the star filled sky on a clear night? That's what watching the climax of this film was like for me. It fills you with an overwhelming sense of awe and wonder. John Williams' evocative score complements the excellent special effects.
For best viewing, I recommend only seeing this film in widescreen format. For even better viewing, turn on the stereo, turn up the volume, and dim the lights. Then sit back and allow this film to soak you up. Don't get impatient if the film takes a while to get going, this is just to build up suspense for the climax.
Duel (1971)
A nightmarish David vs. Goliath story
Dennis Weaver stars as David Mann, a henpecked salesman driving along a lonely stretch of road in the desert. His troubles begin for him when he makes the mistake to pass a large, slow moving, dirty truck. The truck driver starts to....,well lets just say you can expect to be glued to your seat for the next 90 minutes as David Mann's trip turns into a nightmare.
The seemingly simple story could have in other hands been a bore. But in Steven Spielberg's hands, it becomes an incredibly suspenseful tale, a David versus Goliath story; a story about a man who overcomes his impotence and faces his fears. Spielberg never lets us see the driver's face, allowing the truck to take on a personality of its own becoming an unstoppable monster of menace. The desert provides a surreal backdrop for Mann's journey with the only people in it being unhelpful or hostile. Mann will have to rely on his own resources.
Although made for TV, this superb film should have gone to theaters (it later did). See it!
East of Eden (1955)
An extremely emotional story of a family in conflict.
Though not without contrived moments, East of Eden is an incredibly emotional film. A powerful story of a family in conflict in the Cain and Abel mold.
James Dean is wonderful as Cal Trask, the "bad son". I wondered why everyone in town sees him in this light as he tries so hard to do right, but is pidgeonholed into the Cain role. The fact that the film contained almost autobiographal elements from Dean's own life gives the film extra poignance.
Raymond Massey is fine as Adam Trask. An outwardly likeable and respected man, Adam Trask has a curious insensitive and self-righteous streek in personality. Adam is able to lecture Cal on his misdeeds, but sees nothing wrong in lying to his son about his mother.
Julie Harris is touching as Abra, Cal's brother's fiancee. A sweet local girl, she tries in vain to act as an emotional bandaid to the Trask family, but ends up being more the catalyst that tears them apart.
The film was obviously a personal one for director Kazan(who had problems with his own father and was ostrasized for his HUAC testimony). You can feel the tension in his characters just beneath the surface. Abra's forgiveness plea to Adam after Cal's atrocious act could well be taken from Kazan's own life. The film's blazing colour and beautiful Leonard Rosenman score adds to the emotional charge.
Keep plenty of kleenex handy for the birthday sequence through to the end of the film.