Apparently the original draft for this script was a lot more historically accurate - it's based on the Abscam scandal of the late 70s/early 80s which I admit I'd never heard about before - but then David O. Russell got his hands on it and he fictionalised things and shook it up.
Was it the right decision? I haven't read the original so I couldn't say. Certainly this could have done with a bit (actually make that a lot) of trimming and sharper focused; a lot of the scenes felt improvised, which may have been creatively satisfying but often makes for repetitive dialogue.
But it's got plenty of colour and character - I was never sure of where it was going or what it was doing, which occasionally irritated but on the whole was a positive. The cast throw themselves into it - every dress Amy Adams wore lacked a bra (whose choice was that, I wonder?), Christian Bale got past his fake gut and hairpiece to find unlikely humanity in a con man, Bradley Cooper had energy and spunk as the FBI agent, Jeremy Remmer was perhaps the most likeable character in the whole story, and Jennifer Lawrence was amazingly good (if, as in Silver Linings Playbook, she felt too young)
Overlong, overpraised but good fun with some excellent actors and costumes.
Friday, December 20, 2013
Movie review - "This is Forty" (2012) ****
A follow up to Knocked Up was not as popular despite a similarly strong cast and script full of observant moments. Yes it's long but so was Knocked Up. I think the relative lack of popularity stemmed from two things: stories about turning forty aren't as inherent appealing as ones about falling pregnant (the latter is the start of a new chapter, the former is a mid point next stop death); and secondly, Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd can't carry a film as stars. I admit that's a harsh, personal judgement - both are very talented, capable actors, likeable and all that... but they're not stars. They're not Jason Segel or Kristen Wiig or Seth Rogen or even Katherine Heigl and it hurts in a film on which so much is dependent on these two.
Compounding the problems are the two Apatow kids as the Mann/Rudd children. They were weak in Funny People too - the elder daughter more so than the younger - and that problem is repeated. They are okay, but they're not exceptional, and character driven comedies like these need exceptional casting.
This becomes more obvious when the lead four actors engage with the superb support cast: Segel, Albert Brooks (some brilliant work as a funny very reluctant late in life father), John Lithgow, Rob Smigel, Melissa McCarthy (again, brilliant), Lena Durham and even Megan Fox who is really funny. When the lead four characters engage with them is when this really comes alive. Even with them it's still pretty good - full of honesty and warmth and funny observations (husbands sneaking off to the toilet to get alone time, partners fantasizing about killing each other in a loving way).
Compounding the problems are the two Apatow kids as the Mann/Rudd children. They were weak in Funny People too - the elder daughter more so than the younger - and that problem is repeated. They are okay, but they're not exceptional, and character driven comedies like these need exceptional casting.
This becomes more obvious when the lead four actors engage with the superb support cast: Segel, Albert Brooks (some brilliant work as a funny very reluctant late in life father), John Lithgow, Rob Smigel, Melissa McCarthy (again, brilliant), Lena Durham and even Megan Fox who is really funny. When the lead four characters engage with them is when this really comes alive. Even with them it's still pretty good - full of honesty and warmth and funny observations (husbands sneaking off to the toilet to get alone time, partners fantasizing about killing each other in a loving way).
Friday, December 13, 2013
Movie review - "Sleepaway Camp" (1983) * (warning: spoilers)
Teen slasher films of the early 80s were an often indistinguishable bunch but this one, while it has the most basic of basic ideas (someone runs around a summer camp killing off kids and counsellors one by one) this manages to be special by virtue of sheer insanity.
The plot focuses around young Angela, survivor of a hilarious family boating accident when young who grows up under the charge of what seems like a female impersonator. She goes to stay at summer camp where she is picked on by many of the kids there - who subsequently wind up dead. Most of the victims are played by actors who seem to be really young, which is actually a bit upsetting - but you're more likely to be distracted by the bad acting, porn movie moustaches (one painted on) and Village people haircuts, skin tight shorts, comments about women being flat chested and having no pubic hair, a camp owner who refuses to believe anything is wrong no matter how many corpses show up.
There's also a lot of gender/sexual politics with two kids being traumatised at the sight of their father in bed with another man, and a woman raising a boy to be a girl, and a Crying Game type ending. So you have to give it some points for at least imagination. Also one or two deaths are different (killing with bees while on the toilet... although they could have gone under the door, and being stabbed and sliced in the back).
A random note - if this film was made now it would probably breach all sorts of child porn rules because I'm pretty sure it depicts sex acts for under sixteens.
The plot focuses around young Angela, survivor of a hilarious family boating accident when young who grows up under the charge of what seems like a female impersonator. She goes to stay at summer camp where she is picked on by many of the kids there - who subsequently wind up dead. Most of the victims are played by actors who seem to be really young, which is actually a bit upsetting - but you're more likely to be distracted by the bad acting, porn movie moustaches (one painted on) and Village people haircuts, skin tight shorts, comments about women being flat chested and having no pubic hair, a camp owner who refuses to believe anything is wrong no matter how many corpses show up.
There's also a lot of gender/sexual politics with two kids being traumatised at the sight of their father in bed with another man, and a woman raising a boy to be a girl, and a Crying Game type ending. So you have to give it some points for at least imagination. Also one or two deaths are different (killing with bees while on the toilet... although they could have gone under the door, and being stabbed and sliced in the back).
A random note - if this film was made now it would probably breach all sorts of child porn rules because I'm pretty sure it depicts sex acts for under sixteens.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Movie review - "The Bling Ring" (2013) **
Sofia Coppola is a talented director but not much of a writer and she fumbles what should have been sure fire material for her. This tale of vapid young things in LA robbing the houses of rich, famous vapid young things has plenty of neat touches but makes all its points in the first ten minutes then repeats them incessantly: they're shallow, inspired by a shallow society with shallow parents; there are lots of designer clothes, and endless dancing in nightclubs and taking selfies and putting things on Facebook.
This sort of repetitive story telling is more forgiveable if there is decent characterisation to compensate but it was hard to tell the girls apart - one seemed to be the ringleader, one was Emma Watson, one had a boyfriend (only one... it's a remarkably sexless film for all the racy posing), one was a gay boy, one was young. There's not much more - just selfies and dancing and being shallow.
The break in sequences are very unsuspenseful, which I guess was the point (the real life criminals just sort of rocked up and broke in, succeeding via audacity and their targets' stupidity more than anything else) but there's a lot of these sequences and having a lot of unsuspenseful sequences doesn't add up to anything much. Ditto such seemingly sure fire material as the cops closing in.
It looks great - Coppola's films always have a strong design and costume component - and the music suits it and the cast all look their parts at least. But this got on my nerves.
This sort of repetitive story telling is more forgiveable if there is decent characterisation to compensate but it was hard to tell the girls apart - one seemed to be the ringleader, one was Emma Watson, one had a boyfriend (only one... it's a remarkably sexless film for all the racy posing), one was a gay boy, one was young. There's not much more - just selfies and dancing and being shallow.
The break in sequences are very unsuspenseful, which I guess was the point (the real life criminals just sort of rocked up and broke in, succeeding via audacity and their targets' stupidity more than anything else) but there's a lot of these sequences and having a lot of unsuspenseful sequences doesn't add up to anything much. Ditto such seemingly sure fire material as the cops closing in.
It looks great - Coppola's films always have a strong design and costume component - and the music suits it and the cast all look their parts at least. But this got on my nerves.
Movie review - "Fair Game" (1995) *
Another film I saw after the enthusiastic endorsement of the team at How Did This Get Made? and it didn't disappoint. Eventually, that is... at first I thought they were being too mean, and this wasn't that bad. Cindy Crawford was in over her head but she was pretty, looked good and was giving it a go - she had too much dialogue, and bad dialogue at that, but she was trying, and was willing to offer up a bit of partial nudity to make the punters happy. And there's no reason why a story about a bunch of baddies trying to kill her and a hunky cop trying to stop them couldn't have worked on a cheesy level.
The terrible script is far more to blame than Crawford why this doesn't work - there's no real reason for the baddies to kill Crawford, especially not to go to such incredible, expensive lengths; the baddies have an incredible ability of technology except when it's needed for plot; the good guys are unbelievably stupid (eg using credit cards when there are people out to kill them); the baddies spend most of the film trying to kill Crawford then they decide to hold her hostage for no good reason. None of it makes sense.
There's also terrible wise-cracky dialogue, unfunny comedy scenes, hammy Russian henchmen, Steven Berkoff sleep walking through his villain role (he's nowhere near as good as he is in Octopussy or Beverly Hills Cop), a hilarious explosion where Crawford is blown off her balcony. Billy Baldwin is likeable in the lead - it's not his fault this is a turkey (apart from accepting the role) and some of the action is decent enough.
The terrible script is far more to blame than Crawford why this doesn't work - there's no real reason for the baddies to kill Crawford, especially not to go to such incredible, expensive lengths; the baddies have an incredible ability of technology except when it's needed for plot; the good guys are unbelievably stupid (eg using credit cards when there are people out to kill them); the baddies spend most of the film trying to kill Crawford then they decide to hold her hostage for no good reason. None of it makes sense.
There's also terrible wise-cracky dialogue, unfunny comedy scenes, hammy Russian henchmen, Steven Berkoff sleep walking through his villain role (he's nowhere near as good as he is in Octopussy or Beverly Hills Cop), a hilarious explosion where Crawford is blown off her balcony. Billy Baldwin is likeable in the lead - it's not his fault this is a turkey (apart from accepting the role) and some of the action is decent enough.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Movie review - "Gilda" (1946) ****
If you want to check out Rita Hayworth in her prime, this is the movie to see - all glorious red hair (although this is black and white), cascading over revealed shoulders, slinky gowns, sensual dialogue, singing 'Put the Blame on Mame' while flinging a glove into the crowd, dancing with married men, driving all men ga-ga.
It's sort of a film noir with Gilda (Hayworth) as kind of a femme fetale - but she's allowed to live at the end, to go off into the sunset with Glenn Ford. Really though it's a more mixed up relationship melodrama with a mystery-in-the-third-world-as-depicted-in-a-Hollywood-studio-film background - the film it reminded me most of was the last third of Gone with the Wind, the bit where Scarlett and Rhett's marriage dissolves into bitterness and mutual loathing.
This has added sexual complications not present in GWTW though: because it's a really weird love triangle. Rich George Macready seems to pick up handsome dissolute gambler Glenn Ford on the Buenos Aires waterfront and then hires him to work in his casino; the two become close but then Macready marries Rita Hayworth who used to have a thing with Ford back in the day.
Some merry shenanigans ensue, with much talk about the power of hate being as strong as love, and Ford getting jealous of Hayworth over Macready, and then getting jealous over other men panting over Hayworth and Macready trying to assure Ford nothing has to change, and then Ford and Hayworth hooking up but he doesn't want to do anything out of "loyalty" to Macready.
There's a PhD or two in all the subtext - including the fact that Ford's character isn't terribly sympathetic (he tortures Hayworth constantly, even after they think Macready is dead and he marries Hayworth he keeps her at arm's length). Hayworth isn't exactly an angel either - clearly a woman with a shady past, she delights in teasing and tormenting Ford. So while Macready is the ostensible villain he's actually quite sympathetic - he genuinely loves Hayworth and treats her well, and even though he does kill his business partners they are Nazis... standing up to them is a good thing. (The subplot involves a cartel to control the world's supply of tungsten, which comes across as silly as it sounds... any other substance I think they would have been fine - diamonds, coal, uranium - but tungsten...)
Macready gives an excellent performance, as does Ford - I associate Ford with Einsenhower Era leading men, but he does very well as a handsome, brooding, sadistic drifter. And Hayworth is terrific. Structurally the film suffers towards the end and the climax is silly; it feels like the sort of movie that was rewritten a lot and has a sense at times of being made up as it goes along, but still... a classic in a way.
It's sort of a film noir with Gilda (Hayworth) as kind of a femme fetale - but she's allowed to live at the end, to go off into the sunset with Glenn Ford. Really though it's a more mixed up relationship melodrama with a mystery-in-the-third-world-as-depicted-in-a-Hollywood-studio-film background - the film it reminded me most of was the last third of Gone with the Wind, the bit where Scarlett and Rhett's marriage dissolves into bitterness and mutual loathing.
This has added sexual complications not present in GWTW though: because it's a really weird love triangle. Rich George Macready seems to pick up handsome dissolute gambler Glenn Ford on the Buenos Aires waterfront and then hires him to work in his casino; the two become close but then Macready marries Rita Hayworth who used to have a thing with Ford back in the day.
Some merry shenanigans ensue, with much talk about the power of hate being as strong as love, and Ford getting jealous of Hayworth over Macready, and then getting jealous over other men panting over Hayworth and Macready trying to assure Ford nothing has to change, and then Ford and Hayworth hooking up but he doesn't want to do anything out of "loyalty" to Macready.
There's a PhD or two in all the subtext - including the fact that Ford's character isn't terribly sympathetic (he tortures Hayworth constantly, even after they think Macready is dead and he marries Hayworth he keeps her at arm's length). Hayworth isn't exactly an angel either - clearly a woman with a shady past, she delights in teasing and tormenting Ford. So while Macready is the ostensible villain he's actually quite sympathetic - he genuinely loves Hayworth and treats her well, and even though he does kill his business partners they are Nazis... standing up to them is a good thing. (The subplot involves a cartel to control the world's supply of tungsten, which comes across as silly as it sounds... any other substance I think they would have been fine - diamonds, coal, uranium - but tungsten...)
Macready gives an excellent performance, as does Ford - I associate Ford with Einsenhower Era leading men, but he does very well as a handsome, brooding, sadistic drifter. And Hayworth is terrific. Structurally the film suffers towards the end and the climax is silly; it feels like the sort of movie that was rewritten a lot and has a sense at times of being made up as it goes along, but still... a classic in a way.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Movie review - "Crank: High Voltage" (2009) ***
I saw this after it hearing about it on How Did This Get Made? It's the sort of the movie that either you go with or you don't, and if you go with it you get sick of it or you don't. I went with it but got sick of it after a while - too relentless, too much "here's another crazy sequence we can throw in there" without much development... which I know was the point, but still...
Jason Statham provides a surprisingly strong center to the mayhem - I actually don't know why I say "surprising" this guy obviously is the real deal by now - and Amy Smart is likeable as the love interest, but the movie is stolen by Bai Ling as a crazy prostitute. Fun cameos from people like Ron Jeremy and Gerri Halliwell. It looks terrific and there's plenty of imagination and flair on display.
Jason Statham provides a surprisingly strong center to the mayhem - I actually don't know why I say "surprising" this guy obviously is the real deal by now - and Amy Smart is likeable as the love interest, but the movie is stolen by Bai Ling as a crazy prostitute. Fun cameos from people like Ron Jeremy and Gerri Halliwell. It looks terrific and there's plenty of imagination and flair on display.
Sunday, December 08, 2013
Movie review - "The Phantom Lady" (1944) ***1/2
Entertaining early noir, which helped establish the American reputation of director Richard Siomak. Alan Curtis, who you may recall as the valet in the love triangle from Buck Privates, is an unhappily married man who hooks up with a lonely woman one night; they spend the evening together - chasteley, this was 1944, they go see a band and hang out at a bar - then he goes home and discovers his wife has been murdered. It's only then we meet the real hero of the film - Ella Raines, Curtis' secretary, who loves him... and is determined to prove his innocence.
Raines is an interesting actor - she never became a star, she's very beautiful and a likeable performer (even if her face seems more suited to the femme fetale); she's got a great role to play here, plucky and brave (an early feminist in a way, even if she is trying to help her boss)... I love the sequence where she dresses as a tramp to interrogate drummer Elisa Cook Jnr (complete with intense, sexual-innuendo-laden drumming sequence).
Franchot Tone adds some needed gravitas as Curtis' friend and Thomas Gomez is excellent as an investigating cop. The script and story has a fair few logic holes but it's got terrific atmosphere and is visually impressive and it's not hard to see why it has a cult.
Raines is an interesting actor - she never became a star, she's very beautiful and a likeable performer (even if her face seems more suited to the femme fetale); she's got a great role to play here, plucky and brave (an early feminist in a way, even if she is trying to help her boss)... I love the sequence where she dresses as a tramp to interrogate drummer Elisa Cook Jnr (complete with intense, sexual-innuendo-laden drumming sequence).
Franchot Tone adds some needed gravitas as Curtis' friend and Thomas Gomez is excellent as an investigating cop. The script and story has a fair few logic holes but it's got terrific atmosphere and is visually impressive and it's not hard to see why it has a cult.
Movie review - "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" (1948) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)
Part of the late 40s fortune teller phase which also included Nightmare Alley, this features Edward G Robinson as a fortune teller who starts as a shonk then realises he has a genuine gift. He has a strong control over heiress Gail Russell, whose death Robinson predicts.
I'm not a big fan of true psychic movies because it always feels like it's cheating; that's how it is here as well - Robinson predicts the future, it comes true but in a slightly different way. There are some effective moments but I couldn't helping thinking "lazy scriptwriting" a lot.
Robinson is in good form as the psychic - he plays it in his customary no-nonsense manner, which helps make the part less airy-fairy. Gail Russell adds some solid "tragic ethereal victim" aura (in part because of her own real life fate) as the heiress who seems to be doomed. John Lund is wet and useless as always as Russell's love. William Demarest provides some tough talking sass as a DA and there's a surprise ending (if overloaded by exposition) where the cops shoot Robinson dead while trying to save Russell's life and the cops don't get punished for it.
John Farrow and his editors have jazzed it up by going non linear - we start with Russell about to kill herself then flashback - and it has the pleasures of films from this time (crisp black and white photography, expert character actors) but I found this disappointing.
I'm not a big fan of true psychic movies because it always feels like it's cheating; that's how it is here as well - Robinson predicts the future, it comes true but in a slightly different way. There are some effective moments but I couldn't helping thinking "lazy scriptwriting" a lot.
Robinson is in good form as the psychic - he plays it in his customary no-nonsense manner, which helps make the part less airy-fairy. Gail Russell adds some solid "tragic ethereal victim" aura (in part because of her own real life fate) as the heiress who seems to be doomed. John Lund is wet and useless as always as Russell's love. William Demarest provides some tough talking sass as a DA and there's a surprise ending (if overloaded by exposition) where the cops shoot Robinson dead while trying to save Russell's life and the cops don't get punished for it.
John Farrow and his editors have jazzed it up by going non linear - we start with Russell about to kill herself then flashback - and it has the pleasures of films from this time (crisp black and white photography, expert character actors) but I found this disappointing.
Saturday, December 07, 2013
Movie review - "Black Angel" (1946) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)
A not particularly well known film noir although it has some distinction - the last movie of Roy William Neill, a leading role for Dan Duryea, a cast also including Peter Lorre and Broderick Crawford. The set up is intriguing... a woman is killed and her lover arrested for the crime; the lover's wife then teams up with the dead woman's husband to find out whodunnit.
I think the movie makers were hoping for another Laura - there's a bitchy columnist who knew the dead woman - but June Vincent isn't very inspiring in the lead and lacks chemistry in the lead. Peter Lorre is always good value, with his cigarette flopping out of his mouth and looking shady; Crawford seems too young, Duryea really is a supporting actor rather than a lead. There's some over acting support cast and some tripping drinking montages, and a not entirely satisfactory plot. Best thing about it is the end with Duryea realising that (spoilers) he did it. It's a good twist but that's all really - the rest of the movie isn't as good as you'd hope it would be.
I think the movie makers were hoping for another Laura - there's a bitchy columnist who knew the dead woman - but June Vincent isn't very inspiring in the lead and lacks chemistry in the lead. Peter Lorre is always good value, with his cigarette flopping out of his mouth and looking shady; Crawford seems too young, Duryea really is a supporting actor rather than a lead. There's some over acting support cast and some tripping drinking montages, and a not entirely satisfactory plot. Best thing about it is the end with Duryea realising that (spoilers) he did it. It's a good twist but that's all really - the rest of the movie isn't as good as you'd hope it would be.
Wednesday, December 04, 2013
TV review - "The Newsroom Season 2" (2013) ***
Aaron Sorkin announced he was determined to fix up the problems of season one with season two but really he hasn't. There's a long running serial arc (which isn't too bad - a false story, well plotted and climaxed) but Jeff Daniels remains self-righteous, the setting remains nothing like a newsroom, the songs (i.e. monologues) remain entertaining, the sight of two English accented people in the newsroom is still distracting, the good Republicans remain Uncle Toms, Olivia Munn remains outstanding, her romance with Thomas Sadoski remains unsatisfactory.
Thankfully they jettison Jim's annoying relationship with Alison Pill (who is a shrill idiot who begged to go to Africa even though she was warned it'd be dangerous then carries on like a drama queen when something bad happens... although I did find that sequence exciting), and give him a fun romance with Meryl Streep's daughter. Jeff Daniels and Emily Mortimer have zero chemistry and their romantic arc is very unsatisfactory.
Some great moments and it's fun to take a trip down memory lane of 2011 and 2012. I don't think this show can get any better but its pleasing to watch.
Thankfully they jettison Jim's annoying relationship with Alison Pill (who is a shrill idiot who begged to go to Africa even though she was warned it'd be dangerous then carries on like a drama queen when something bad happens... although I did find that sequence exciting), and give him a fun romance with Meryl Streep's daughter. Jeff Daniels and Emily Mortimer have zero chemistry and their romantic arc is very unsatisfactory.
Some great moments and it's fun to take a trip down memory lane of 2011 and 2012. I don't think this show can get any better but its pleasing to watch.
Monday, December 02, 2013
Movie review - "Hotel Berlin" (1945) ****
One of the reasons I love old Hollywood is the studios will throw in curve balls like this - a re-do of Grand Hotel only told from the POV of the Germans in a Berlin Hotel towards the end of the war - shot at the time it was happening.
Plenty of enjoyable subplots: an arrogant German general (Raymond Massey) involved in the assassination of Hitler is told to kill himself, a smart Nazi (Henry Daniell) plans fleeing to America, a self-loathing scientist (Peter Lorre) awaits German defeat, a prostitute (Faye Emersen) realises her old Jewish love is still alive, a member of the German underground (Helmut Dantine) tries to find allies and escape the SS (George Colouris), an old Nazi (Alan Hale) is in trouble for embezzlement, a little old Jewish lady (Helen Thimig) tries to escape detection, an actress and general's mistress (Andrea King) tries to secure her own escape.
It doesn't have the star power of Grant Hotel but there are some very accomplished actors here - Daniell, Lorre, Massey and Colouris are in particular wonderful. Emersen and King aren't in their league but they're brilliant roles. Dantine struggles as a leading man - he normally played baddies, this was a chance to be a hero (albeit a ruthless one), but he's very stiff. There's an incredible finale where Dantine shoots King, who has betrayed him, and Daniell heads off to America to try and keep the Nazi flame alive.
On a historical level it's fascinating to see a war time Hollywood film consisting almost entirely of German characters - and most of them are sympathetic. (There's an awful lot of people working for the German resistance here and the leader of the underground we see at the end is almost Christ-like.) It's also tough and humanistic and I just really liked this movie.
Plenty of enjoyable subplots: an arrogant German general (Raymond Massey) involved in the assassination of Hitler is told to kill himself, a smart Nazi (Henry Daniell) plans fleeing to America, a self-loathing scientist (Peter Lorre) awaits German defeat, a prostitute (Faye Emersen) realises her old Jewish love is still alive, a member of the German underground (Helmut Dantine) tries to find allies and escape the SS (George Colouris), an old Nazi (Alan Hale) is in trouble for embezzlement, a little old Jewish lady (Helen Thimig) tries to escape detection, an actress and general's mistress (Andrea King) tries to secure her own escape.
It doesn't have the star power of Grant Hotel but there are some very accomplished actors here - Daniell, Lorre, Massey and Colouris are in particular wonderful. Emersen and King aren't in their league but they're brilliant roles. Dantine struggles as a leading man - he normally played baddies, this was a chance to be a hero (albeit a ruthless one), but he's very stiff. There's an incredible finale where Dantine shoots King, who has betrayed him, and Daniell heads off to America to try and keep the Nazi flame alive.
On a historical level it's fascinating to see a war time Hollywood film consisting almost entirely of German characters - and most of them are sympathetic. (There's an awful lot of people working for the German resistance here and the leader of the underground we see at the end is almost Christ-like.) It's also tough and humanistic and I just really liked this movie.
Movie review - "Behind the Candelabra" (2013) *****
A nice reminder that Hollywood hasn't forgotten to make entertaining dramas with movie stars and a decent director - although it was HBO, and not a studio, which funded this. It's a brighter version of Sunset Boulevard if you can imagine such a thing.
Michael Douglas is superb as Liberace, camp as a row of tents, brilliant on the keys, world weary, touching, smart, wryly funny... by no means a monster, but a man of immense talent struggling against a prejudicial society (one that discriminates against gays and the bald), capable of great kindness but corrupted by his power.
Matt Damon is equally good in a less showy role - a young, not particularly smart, earnest young man, who thinks he goes into this eyes wide open but ultimately can't handle it. There are also superb turns from Rob Lowe (his best movie performance yet... magnificent make up), Dan Aykroyd, Debbie Reynolds (nearly unrecognisable as Liberace's mother... she has a great scene involving a poker machine), and Scott Bakula.
Director Steven Soderbergh's fondness for soft lighting is perfectly at home in the world of Vegas tack. Excellent script from Richard La Gravenese, full of funny lines and human touches. My only real gripe was that it went on too long.
Michael Douglas is superb as Liberace, camp as a row of tents, brilliant on the keys, world weary, touching, smart, wryly funny... by no means a monster, but a man of immense talent struggling against a prejudicial society (one that discriminates against gays and the bald), capable of great kindness but corrupted by his power.
Matt Damon is equally good in a less showy role - a young, not particularly smart, earnest young man, who thinks he goes into this eyes wide open but ultimately can't handle it. There are also superb turns from Rob Lowe (his best movie performance yet... magnificent make up), Dan Aykroyd, Debbie Reynolds (nearly unrecognisable as Liberace's mother... she has a great scene involving a poker machine), and Scott Bakula.
Director Steven Soderbergh's fondness for soft lighting is perfectly at home in the world of Vegas tack. Excellent script from Richard La Gravenese, full of funny lines and human touches. My only real gripe was that it went on too long.
Play review - "Playing Rock Hudson" (performance 1 Dec 2013)
Not entirely successful look at the life - in particular love life - of the famous Hollywood movie star. It's sort of about "who was the real Rock Hudson" but mostly a recreation of the legal battle one of his last lovers had against Hudson's estate - he claimed that Rock Hudson never told him he had AIDS and should have. More focus and less actors reciting research may have made the piece more satisfactory, although there is interest in seeing actors depict Hudson and his various lovers, George Nader, Henry Wilson, Elizabeth Taylor, etc.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Movie review - "No Way Out" (1950) ***
Joseph L. Mankiewicz was in the middle of one of the all-time career hot streaks when he was working under Zanuck at Fox. He takes a break from cocktail swilling sophisticates for this still-raw tale of racism. Richard Widmark and his brother have committed a robbery and been injured; they're bought into hospital where the brother dies under the care of a black (the characters here all use the word "negro"... the nasty ones say "n*gger") doctor. Widmark is determined to get revenge.
It's hotly anti-racism but Mankiewicz knows the importance of a good story and characters. Sidney Poitier (looking oh so young) actually has a decent role to play instead of just a noble, wronged black - his young doctor is insecure, anxious about his own abilities. And there's a decent mystery plot with Poitier and colleague Stephen McNally trying to prove Poitier's ignorance.
Richard Widmark is brilliant as the racist. I understand he got sick of playing baddies and wanted to play heroes but he only every an above-average hero whereas he was an all-time-great villain, and proves that here. Linda Darnell is on hand as his trashy sister in law, proving again what a fine actor she could be.
There are some downsides - Stephen McNally's liberal white doctor is irritating; the movie dragged on too long (it felt as though it should end soon after the race riot but there's a whole other bit to go). Not the classic I was hoping to see (I'd read some pieces rating it highly) but it's got the novelty of young Poitier, electrifying Widmark and still shocking use of the "n" word.
It's hotly anti-racism but Mankiewicz knows the importance of a good story and characters. Sidney Poitier (looking oh so young) actually has a decent role to play instead of just a noble, wronged black - his young doctor is insecure, anxious about his own abilities. And there's a decent mystery plot with Poitier and colleague Stephen McNally trying to prove Poitier's ignorance.
Richard Widmark is brilliant as the racist. I understand he got sick of playing baddies and wanted to play heroes but he only every an above-average hero whereas he was an all-time-great villain, and proves that here. Linda Darnell is on hand as his trashy sister in law, proving again what a fine actor she could be.
There are some downsides - Stephen McNally's liberal white doctor is irritating; the movie dragged on too long (it felt as though it should end soon after the race riot but there's a whole other bit to go). Not the classic I was hoping to see (I'd read some pieces rating it highly) but it's got the novelty of young Poitier, electrifying Widmark and still shocking use of the "n" word.
Friday, November 15, 2013
Movie review - "Gravity" (2013) *****
I've gone off going to the multiplex in recent years because its such an unpleasant experience most of the time, far too expensive, and the movies are often dumb. But this has helped revive my faith in Hollywood - a smart big budget special effects flick with stars and an awesome story.
Visually this is incredible - I kept wondering "how did they do that?" Alfonso Cuaron's tendency for long takes works brilliantly - it all works brilliantly - creating genuine white knuckle suspense. I'm sure boffins could poke holes in the science of it all, but I believed it.
Sandra Bullock is excellent in the lead - her plastic surgery wasn't too distracting as she spends most of the movie in a helmet, and looks splendid in astronaut underwear. It's such a tremendous role - I understand Angelina Jolie decided not to do it over money; if that's true, she was a fool: Cuaron is one of the best directors working in the world today. George Clooney was born to play an astronaut, too.
So many excellent moments: the opening "attack", the discovery of the fate of the Shuttle crew, Bullock's third act turning point. A wonderful film.
Visually this is incredible - I kept wondering "how did they do that?" Alfonso Cuaron's tendency for long takes works brilliantly - it all works brilliantly - creating genuine white knuckle suspense. I'm sure boffins could poke holes in the science of it all, but I believed it.
Sandra Bullock is excellent in the lead - her plastic surgery wasn't too distracting as she spends most of the movie in a helmet, and looks splendid in astronaut underwear. It's such a tremendous role - I understand Angelina Jolie decided not to do it over money; if that's true, she was a fool: Cuaron is one of the best directors working in the world today. George Clooney was born to play an astronaut, too.
So many excellent moments: the opening "attack", the discovery of the fate of the Shuttle crew, Bullock's third act turning point. A wonderful film.
Movie review - "Kit Carson" (1941) **1/2
Jon Hall became a star (or at least a name) very fast with his lead role in The Hurricane but was kept off screen for a number of years afterwards by Sam Goldwyn as the producer looked for a follow up. Eventually Hall started popping up in a number of movies; this was his first Western, and he's uncomfortably cast... it explains why he fairly quickly settled into sarong and sword adventures only.
It's a shame because otherwise this is an unpretentious, well-constructed Western, typical of the movies Edward Small made around this time - decent production values, strong cast, copies other movies. This seems to borrow the Dodge City template of an adventurer and his two pals who get involved in adventures out west. The trio are Jon Hall (title role), Ward Bond and Harold Huber; there's a love triangle between Hall and army captain Dana Andrews over Lyn Bari (weird seeing her in period clothes, I was used to seeing her in big band dramas) and a serviceable plot about Hall and company escorting an wagon trail across country.
The love triangle got confusing but there is plenty of action including a good old Indian attack of the wagons with the womenfolk helping fire the rifles and a climax where the Americans team up to kick the Mexicans out of California (it's set just prior to the Mexican-US War). I enjoyed seeing a young Andrews and Ward Bond could play this role in his sleep already. But Hall's performance is bad and the more lines he's given the worse he is and it almost wrecks the film.
It's a shame because otherwise this is an unpretentious, well-constructed Western, typical of the movies Edward Small made around this time - decent production values, strong cast, copies other movies. This seems to borrow the Dodge City template of an adventurer and his two pals who get involved in adventures out west. The trio are Jon Hall (title role), Ward Bond and Harold Huber; there's a love triangle between Hall and army captain Dana Andrews over Lyn Bari (weird seeing her in period clothes, I was used to seeing her in big band dramas) and a serviceable plot about Hall and company escorting an wagon trail across country.
The love triangle got confusing but there is plenty of action including a good old Indian attack of the wagons with the womenfolk helping fire the rifles and a climax where the Americans team up to kick the Mexicans out of California (it's set just prior to the Mexican-US War). I enjoyed seeing a young Andrews and Ward Bond could play this role in his sleep already. But Hall's performance is bad and the more lines he's given the worse he is and it almost wrecks the film.
Movie review - Bond#20 - "Die Another Day" (2002) ***
Pierce Brosnan got worse as James Bond as the years went on - this was his fourth time out and not only was he becoming distractingly old, his continuing inability to say a funny line remains amazing. He is wound uptight and anxious, limiting the impact of this entry, which has many fine moments. Or at least, it does at the beginning - the second half is just plain silly.
The action sequences are back to their high standard, with some truly spectacular and thrilling segments: an opening hovercraft chase through the mine-riddled DMZ in Korea, a full blooded fencing match that turns roughhouse, a shootout in a dodgy clinic in Cuba.
The story isn't bad either - finally, the opening sequence from The Man with the Golden Gun is used... Bond is captured and spends a long time in Communist captivity, and returns a possible rogue (although why wasn't he brainwashed as in the novel?) It reuses the novel Moonraker device of the villain assuming an identity of a rich person who then seeks revenge against the West, something which pops up in a lot of movies (A View to a Kill, Goldeneye).
But still... the script has problems. The team of Purvis and Wade would later be rewritten by Paul Haggis and from this I see why (NB I know it's hard to tell who wrote what based on film credits and I'm making the following judgement on the assumption that they contributed more to this one): they've got plenty of good ideas but don't always seem to make sense. For instance, the fencing match between Bond and Graves (Toby Stephens) is exciting... but not really motivated, there's no point to it, it doesn't add any new information, or pay off in an interesting way. (Yes it prompts Graves to invite Bond to Iceland but surely he could have done that anyway). It's cute how Graves turns out to be a North Korean general... but to have become a billionaire that's that famous so quickly? The finale of the Iceland sequence has Bond driving against time to save Jinx (Halle Berry) who he barely knows... he ignores the villains escaping with a top secret laser and instead goes for some bit of tail.
While watching the latter I thought to myself "that's something Roger Moore's James Bond would do" and this movie more than ever seems to seek to recapture the spirit of the Moore Bonds, with its invisible car, sexually harassing Bond and really silly CGI surfing in Icelandic waters sequence.
American Bond girls are normally the worst and this does nothing to break the mould. Jinx is a decent character - spunky, tough, brave, good name - and Halle Berry is pretty, but she's just too nice and, well, Halle Berry to be believable as a kick arse action hero. (She is no Michelle Yeoh.) At times she seems like the star of some cheesy 90s straight to DVD flick... and adding to that is Michael Madsen as her boss. (When Madsen and Berry do a scene with Judy Dench and Pierce Brosnan, it's like a mashup of action movies)
Rosamund Pike is beautiful and has two effective moments - being an ice queen as she strips off her clothes and hops into bed with Bond, and then randomly appearing at the end dressed in leather pants and bra wielding a sword while on a plane. But she feels underutilitised - as if she's missing a scene or something.
Rick Yune is an excellent villain henchman, Toby Stephens a irritating villain (he does his best but plays the part in an overly flaring nostrils style, rather like Rik Mayall as Iron Man), John Cleese makes an unwelcome return as Q, Madonna is jarring although her title tune was okay, Samantha Bond is fine as Moneypenny.
Setting the action in Cuba, North Korea and Iceland is fresh; I'm not surprised the South Koreans were offended by the finale, which has the Americans completely in charge of their country's defence; occasionally the visuals are far too influenced by the Fast and the Furious and XXX. This wasnt as bad as some claim - it's got some great bits - but a fine first third is thrown away.
The action sequences are back to their high standard, with some truly spectacular and thrilling segments: an opening hovercraft chase through the mine-riddled DMZ in Korea, a full blooded fencing match that turns roughhouse, a shootout in a dodgy clinic in Cuba.
The story isn't bad either - finally, the opening sequence from The Man with the Golden Gun is used... Bond is captured and spends a long time in Communist captivity, and returns a possible rogue (although why wasn't he brainwashed as in the novel?) It reuses the novel Moonraker device of the villain assuming an identity of a rich person who then seeks revenge against the West, something which pops up in a lot of movies (A View to a Kill, Goldeneye).
But still... the script has problems. The team of Purvis and Wade would later be rewritten by Paul Haggis and from this I see why (NB I know it's hard to tell who wrote what based on film credits and I'm making the following judgement on the assumption that they contributed more to this one): they've got plenty of good ideas but don't always seem to make sense. For instance, the fencing match between Bond and Graves (Toby Stephens) is exciting... but not really motivated, there's no point to it, it doesn't add any new information, or pay off in an interesting way. (Yes it prompts Graves to invite Bond to Iceland but surely he could have done that anyway). It's cute how Graves turns out to be a North Korean general... but to have become a billionaire that's that famous so quickly? The finale of the Iceland sequence has Bond driving against time to save Jinx (Halle Berry) who he barely knows... he ignores the villains escaping with a top secret laser and instead goes for some bit of tail.
While watching the latter I thought to myself "that's something Roger Moore's James Bond would do" and this movie more than ever seems to seek to recapture the spirit of the Moore Bonds, with its invisible car, sexually harassing Bond and really silly CGI surfing in Icelandic waters sequence.
American Bond girls are normally the worst and this does nothing to break the mould. Jinx is a decent character - spunky, tough, brave, good name - and Halle Berry is pretty, but she's just too nice and, well, Halle Berry to be believable as a kick arse action hero. (She is no Michelle Yeoh.) At times she seems like the star of some cheesy 90s straight to DVD flick... and adding to that is Michael Madsen as her boss. (When Madsen and Berry do a scene with Judy Dench and Pierce Brosnan, it's like a mashup of action movies)
Rosamund Pike is beautiful and has two effective moments - being an ice queen as she strips off her clothes and hops into bed with Bond, and then randomly appearing at the end dressed in leather pants and bra wielding a sword while on a plane. But she feels underutilitised - as if she's missing a scene or something.
Rick Yune is an excellent villain henchman, Toby Stephens a irritating villain (he does his best but plays the part in an overly flaring nostrils style, rather like Rik Mayall as Iron Man), John Cleese makes an unwelcome return as Q, Madonna is jarring although her title tune was okay, Samantha Bond is fine as Moneypenny.
Setting the action in Cuba, North Korea and Iceland is fresh; I'm not surprised the South Koreans were offended by the finale, which has the Americans completely in charge of their country's defence; occasionally the visuals are far too influenced by the Fast and the Furious and XXX. This wasnt as bad as some claim - it's got some great bits - but a fine first third is thrown away.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Movie review - "All Through the Night " (1941) ***
One of the lesser known movies George Raft turned down but still a stupid decision - like most of his casting selections appeared to be - because this is a bright, fun World War Two comedy thriller, with the then-novelty of having Nazi villains in New York.
Humphrey Bogart is a sports promoter who gets involved in some fifth columnists operating around Broadway. It's the sort of part that normally is played by Bob Hope but Bogie pulls it off, entering into it with lively good nature; he plays a mamma's boy, seemingly far more concerned with looking after his Ma (Jane Darwell, playing a nice person, which always creeps me out) than the love interest (the uninspiring Kaaren Verne in a part that cries out for an Ann Sheridan).
The true delight of this is the support cast - Warner Bros had a stock company to die for in the 1940s and this has Peter Lorre, Conrad Vedit, Phil Silvers, Jackie Gleason. Frank McHugh, Judith Anderson, Wiliam Demarest, etc. It spanks along at a great pace - I really went with it for the first third but found it gradually harder going; needed more Lorre less Verne, or something.
Humphrey Bogart is a sports promoter who gets involved in some fifth columnists operating around Broadway. It's the sort of part that normally is played by Bob Hope but Bogie pulls it off, entering into it with lively good nature; he plays a mamma's boy, seemingly far more concerned with looking after his Ma (Jane Darwell, playing a nice person, which always creeps me out) than the love interest (the uninspiring Kaaren Verne in a part that cries out for an Ann Sheridan).
The true delight of this is the support cast - Warner Bros had a stock company to die for in the 1940s and this has Peter Lorre, Conrad Vedit, Phil Silvers, Jackie Gleason. Frank McHugh, Judith Anderson, Wiliam Demarest, etc. It spanks along at a great pace - I really went with it for the first third but found it gradually harder going; needed more Lorre less Verne, or something.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Movie review - "Sword in the Desert" (1948) ***1/2
Hollywood had a love affair with Britain in the 1930s and during World War Two. As the war went on and the Cold War kicked in, and it was clear that America was a far greater world power now, niggles started to emerge - the films became more critical of British foreign policy and attitudes, especially towards imperialism (though never really hostile, the British market was still so vital).
This movie was a case in point - a look at Jewish refugees in British run Palestine just prior to independence. The American hero Dana Andrews is a people smuggler - a cynical, money hungry one at the start to be sure, but just like Bogie in To Have and To Have Not (another people smuggler) we know he'll find his heart. And the baddies are the British. (Arabs are mentioned occasionally but very much in the background here.)
To add to the anti British slant the Jews have an Irish friend, a volunteer (there are hundreds of Irish volunteers, apparently) who consistently makes cracks about John Bull and wanting to kill informers and the like. There are some heroic British characters - British working against their countrymen. But having said all that the British aren't depicted as being evil - they are smart, professional, tough, but not ogres. They are men doing their job, and doing it well, not easily duped.
The writer and producer was Bob Buckner, a talented man whose credits include Yankee Doodle Dandee and he throws us straight into the action: a reluctant Andrews dropping his cargo off, anxiously looking around for British patrols, having to escort the refugees on the beach (as led by Stephen McNally), then the British arriving and Andrews having to flee and winding up a fugitive. He goes to a Jewish camp where the leader is Jeff Chandler in an early star making turn from him.
The main problem with this dramatically was the Dana Andrews character. He starts off as central to the action, and we think the movie is going to be about him coming to embrace the Jewish cause, finding love and so on. But after the beginning Andrews really becomes passive, just going along the flow and whingeing about wanting to get home (he spends most of the movie under guard, whether by the Jews or the British). All he really does drama-wise is be tempted to dob in Chandler and then change his mind.
Stephen McNally's character is far more active; he organises the escape of the Jewish prisoners at the end, has a romance. It was as if he was doing stuff that Andrews should have been doing and it threw the movie off for me - this came about via my expectations, I admit, but Andrews was a bigger star than McNally, surely? I'd love to know if any rewrites were going on.
And Marta Torens character starts out interesting - a sort of Jewish Tokyo Rose, brave and smart - but then gets bland and nothing; there's no dimension to her, she pants over McNally, and winds up with a wistful gauze closeup.
Still, this was surprisingly engrossing and fast paced, and anyone interested in movies about the British Empire and/or the early years of the state of Israel should really see it.
This movie was a case in point - a look at Jewish refugees in British run Palestine just prior to independence. The American hero Dana Andrews is a people smuggler - a cynical, money hungry one at the start to be sure, but just like Bogie in To Have and To Have Not (another people smuggler) we know he'll find his heart. And the baddies are the British. (Arabs are mentioned occasionally but very much in the background here.)
To add to the anti British slant the Jews have an Irish friend, a volunteer (there are hundreds of Irish volunteers, apparently) who consistently makes cracks about John Bull and wanting to kill informers and the like. There are some heroic British characters - British working against their countrymen. But having said all that the British aren't depicted as being evil - they are smart, professional, tough, but not ogres. They are men doing their job, and doing it well, not easily duped.
The writer and producer was Bob Buckner, a talented man whose credits include Yankee Doodle Dandee and he throws us straight into the action: a reluctant Andrews dropping his cargo off, anxiously looking around for British patrols, having to escort the refugees on the beach (as led by Stephen McNally), then the British arriving and Andrews having to flee and winding up a fugitive. He goes to a Jewish camp where the leader is Jeff Chandler in an early star making turn from him.
The main problem with this dramatically was the Dana Andrews character. He starts off as central to the action, and we think the movie is going to be about him coming to embrace the Jewish cause, finding love and so on. But after the beginning Andrews really becomes passive, just going along the flow and whingeing about wanting to get home (he spends most of the movie under guard, whether by the Jews or the British). All he really does drama-wise is be tempted to dob in Chandler and then change his mind.
Stephen McNally's character is far more active; he organises the escape of the Jewish prisoners at the end, has a romance. It was as if he was doing stuff that Andrews should have been doing and it threw the movie off for me - this came about via my expectations, I admit, but Andrews was a bigger star than McNally, surely? I'd love to know if any rewrites were going on.
And Marta Torens character starts out interesting - a sort of Jewish Tokyo Rose, brave and smart - but then gets bland and nothing; there's no dimension to her, she pants over McNally, and winds up with a wistful gauze closeup.
Still, this was surprisingly engrossing and fast paced, and anyone interested in movies about the British Empire and/or the early years of the state of Israel should really see it.
Saturday, November 09, 2013
Movie review - "Wagon Master" (1950) ***
John Ford was a big fan of this John Ford movie, presumably because it included so many things he loved: Monument Valley, endless shots of wagons going over the horizon, plenty of character actors, a community feel, religion (Mormons instead of Catholics), outlaws, sensible cowboys, colourful character actors, and horseplay.
Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jnr lack star power as two cowboys who get involved in leading a wagon train of Mormons across country; they encounter Navajo Indians, a troupe of travelling players, and some outlaws. Joanne Dru is sexy as the girl, Ward Bond excellent as the Mormon leader, Jane Darwell creeps me out as a horn blowing Mormon. There's a lot of wagons, and character actors and shenanigans and not much action. I wasn't wild about it, but it has a certain charm.
Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jnr lack star power as two cowboys who get involved in leading a wagon train of Mormons across country; they encounter Navajo Indians, a troupe of travelling players, and some outlaws. Joanne Dru is sexy as the girl, Ward Bond excellent as the Mormon leader, Jane Darwell creeps me out as a horn blowing Mormon. There's a lot of wagons, and character actors and shenanigans and not much action. I wasn't wild about it, but it has a certain charm.
Friday, November 08, 2013
Movie review - "Two Rode Together" (1962) ** (warning: spoilers)
No one seems to have much enthusiasm for this John Ford Western, despite the fact it stars James Stewart, Richard Widmark and Shirley Jones (remember when she was a star?), and touches on many of the themes of The Searchers. Stewart and Widmark play two cowboys, the latter a soldier, who try to retrieve a series of whites who've been raised by Indians; Stewart is doing is for cash and Widmark for duty, which means its already a less complex, interesting movie than The Searchers and certainly the characterisations and script isn't as good (although the comic brawls are as annoying).
Ford made a lot of buddy movies around this time - Liberty Valance, Donovan's Reef, The Horse Soldiers - but Stewart and Widmark lach chemistry. The film badly needs John Wayne and doesn't have him.
It's also a really depressing story - the Indians have kidnapped these women and basically made them sex slaves; some don't want to come back, others do. Linda Cristal comes back and faces lots of prejudice (especially from women who can't understand why she didn't kill herself) and eventually leaves town. Shirley Jones wonders where her brother has gone and when he's "rescued" he hates it, wants to go home, kills a white woman and is lynched, Stewart and Widmark being unable to stop it. The happy ending consists of Stewart and Cristal going off into the sunset together and Widmark marrying a traumatised Jones.
It lacks classic Fordian moments - the action isn't well done, and there's little warmth, despite antics at a cavalry post and Andy Devine, Woody Strode and Harry Carey Jnr lumbering around. It's also sexist and looks cheap.
Ford made a lot of buddy movies around this time - Liberty Valance, Donovan's Reef, The Horse Soldiers - but Stewart and Widmark lach chemistry. The film badly needs John Wayne and doesn't have him.
It's also a really depressing story - the Indians have kidnapped these women and basically made them sex slaves; some don't want to come back, others do. Linda Cristal comes back and faces lots of prejudice (especially from women who can't understand why she didn't kill herself) and eventually leaves town. Shirley Jones wonders where her brother has gone and when he's "rescued" he hates it, wants to go home, kills a white woman and is lynched, Stewart and Widmark being unable to stop it. The happy ending consists of Stewart and Cristal going off into the sunset together and Widmark marrying a traumatised Jones.
It lacks classic Fordian moments - the action isn't well done, and there's little warmth, despite antics at a cavalry post and Andy Devine, Woody Strode and Harry Carey Jnr lumbering around. It's also sexist and looks cheap.
Book review - "Musts, Maybes and Nevers" by David Picker (2013)
I was mostly familiar with David Picker as the smug, gruff, tightly spoken figure who popped up in Bond docos, talking about his involvement in the series, but of course his name is well known for all those students of cinema in the 60s and 70s. Picker was head of production at United Artists in their hey day when they seemed to touch the zietgeist at will - among the films Picker greenlighted were Tom Jones, the Bond series, A Hard Day's Night, Midnight Cowboy, Last Tango in Paris.
Its an incredible record, and yes while Picker mostly said yes and then stayed out of the way, what he said yes too was very impressive. This was Picker's great time in the sun - he became an independent producer with more mixed success, as well as short stints being head of Paramount and Columbia.
Picker puts up the impression of being down to earth but not really; some places in this book seems downright petty, slagging off on Robert Altman for calling him a prick and Mike Medavoy for not inviting him to a party, whingeing about inadequate press coverage of his achievements (he says the story of how the Bond series was started has never been told by a person who was there before... but Cubby Broccoli published his memoirs in the late 90s) and how UA execs got paid less than execs at other Hollywood studios and how Transamerica made them stay at a corporate camp rather than a nice hotel. If his films don't succeed its normally the fault of someone else eg Stella and Leap of Faith was because of the nasty and incompetent directors, The Greatest Story Ever Told was down to its megalomaniac George Stevens. It was Arthur Krim not him who turned down American Graffiti and Bonnie and Clyde, Bob Benjamin Planet of the Apes (to be fair he admits he turned down The Graduate because he didn't get it).
But some anecdotes are gold: Charles Bludhorn being determined to make a movie featuring Buffalo Bill and Hitler, Picker being talked into buying Grease purely on the basis of Allan Carr's enthusiasm, Harold Mirisch desperately trying to get Truman Capote over to his house as a guest, falling out with friend Herb Gardener. George Roy Hill's mistress inspired the native extras to come to his defense and save his job on Hawaii, Picker suggesting John Newcombe as James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I liked that he actually praised some critics (Pauline Kael and Clive James) and took the fall for some things, and there are lively sketches about people such as Richard Lester and Harry Salztman. It's an important book by one of the most significant film execs of his time; I just wish he was a little less pompous on the page and that he had spoken about some of his works like Royal Flash.
Its an incredible record, and yes while Picker mostly said yes and then stayed out of the way, what he said yes too was very impressive. This was Picker's great time in the sun - he became an independent producer with more mixed success, as well as short stints being head of Paramount and Columbia.
Picker puts up the impression of being down to earth but not really; some places in this book seems downright petty, slagging off on Robert Altman for calling him a prick and Mike Medavoy for not inviting him to a party, whingeing about inadequate press coverage of his achievements (he says the story of how the Bond series was started has never been told by a person who was there before... but Cubby Broccoli published his memoirs in the late 90s) and how UA execs got paid less than execs at other Hollywood studios and how Transamerica made them stay at a corporate camp rather than a nice hotel. If his films don't succeed its normally the fault of someone else eg Stella and Leap of Faith was because of the nasty and incompetent directors, The Greatest Story Ever Told was down to its megalomaniac George Stevens. It was Arthur Krim not him who turned down American Graffiti and Bonnie and Clyde, Bob Benjamin Planet of the Apes (to be fair he admits he turned down The Graduate because he didn't get it).
But some anecdotes are gold: Charles Bludhorn being determined to make a movie featuring Buffalo Bill and Hitler, Picker being talked into buying Grease purely on the basis of Allan Carr's enthusiasm, Harold Mirisch desperately trying to get Truman Capote over to his house as a guest, falling out with friend Herb Gardener. George Roy Hill's mistress inspired the native extras to come to his defense and save his job on Hawaii, Picker suggesting John Newcombe as James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I liked that he actually praised some critics (Pauline Kael and Clive James) and took the fall for some things, and there are lively sketches about people such as Richard Lester and Harry Salztman. It's an important book by one of the most significant film execs of his time; I just wish he was a little less pompous on the page and that he had spoken about some of his works like Royal Flash.
Movie review - Bond#19 - "The World is Not Enough" (1999) ***1/2 (warning: spoilers)
An odd mix of a Bond film, full of confusing decisions. Like:
*a pre-credit opening sequence that falls into two parts - a small little action sequence in Spain then a big spectacular one on the River Thames (apparently the first sequence was meant to stand alone but was felt to be not strong enough... honestly they should have known that at script stage, and instead we have this long-feeling two parter);
*casting one of the best Bond girls in the series - Sophie Marceau, who is beautiful, smart, exotic and sexy as hell, everything you want in this universe - then one of the worst, Denise Richards. Now Richards was a fine looking woman in the late 90s and looks terrific in boots, shorts and tank top... but as a nuclear scientist no way. She seems more concerned with her tousled hair and lip pout than acting, and seems young enough to be Pierce Brosnan's daughter. Although her character is okay (brave, spunky, smart), she's got some terrible dialogue eg after almost being blown up in a pipe her first question to Bond is "what's this about you and Elektra?". It's like someone suggested casting Richards as a joke and the next thing everyone knew they were filming. It's also a shame they give such a wonderful character as Elektra such a dull death (being shot on a bed) before the big climax.
*continually giving Pierce Brosnan one liners to say when it should have become clear for whatever reason he's lost the ability to do so.
*The Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? style domestic scene between Elektra and Renard (Robert Carlyle) showing their weird domestic relationship - he's jealous of Bond's ability as a lover, he can't feel anything; Renard is far more sympathetic and touching than actually scary. (Though I did like the idea he was eventually dying of a bullet in the brain. NB What happened to 009 who put that bullet there?)
There were some good things in this movie - it is very exotic (Kazakhstan, Istanbul... maybe that's why they wanted an American Bond girl), Marceau is wonderful, Robbie Coltrane has a great death, and I liked the nod to Bond history with the title.
The action sequences are surprisingly un-involving, certainly not as good as Tomorrow Never Dies... I came away with this memory of lots of crash boom bang (boats driving through restaurants in London, spiky wheels destroying cars in the Caspian Sea, a big clunky sub falling to the bottom of the sea) rather than anything thrilling; it even does a rather dull ski chase, which I thought would be impossible. You couldn't say it was a bad Bond movie, but I couldn't help feeling underwhelmed.
*a pre-credit opening sequence that falls into two parts - a small little action sequence in Spain then a big spectacular one on the River Thames (apparently the first sequence was meant to stand alone but was felt to be not strong enough... honestly they should have known that at script stage, and instead we have this long-feeling two parter);
*casting one of the best Bond girls in the series - Sophie Marceau, who is beautiful, smart, exotic and sexy as hell, everything you want in this universe - then one of the worst, Denise Richards. Now Richards was a fine looking woman in the late 90s and looks terrific in boots, shorts and tank top... but as a nuclear scientist no way. She seems more concerned with her tousled hair and lip pout than acting, and seems young enough to be Pierce Brosnan's daughter. Although her character is okay (brave, spunky, smart), she's got some terrible dialogue eg after almost being blown up in a pipe her first question to Bond is "what's this about you and Elektra?". It's like someone suggested casting Richards as a joke and the next thing everyone knew they were filming. It's also a shame they give such a wonderful character as Elektra such a dull death (being shot on a bed) before the big climax.
*continually giving Pierce Brosnan one liners to say when it should have become clear for whatever reason he's lost the ability to do so.
*The Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? style domestic scene between Elektra and Renard (Robert Carlyle) showing their weird domestic relationship - he's jealous of Bond's ability as a lover, he can't feel anything; Renard is far more sympathetic and touching than actually scary. (Though I did like the idea he was eventually dying of a bullet in the brain. NB What happened to 009 who put that bullet there?)
There were some good things in this movie - it is very exotic (Kazakhstan, Istanbul... maybe that's why they wanted an American Bond girl), Marceau is wonderful, Robbie Coltrane has a great death, and I liked the nod to Bond history with the title.
The action sequences are surprisingly un-involving, certainly not as good as Tomorrow Never Dies... I came away with this memory of lots of crash boom bang (boats driving through restaurants in London, spiky wheels destroying cars in the Caspian Sea, a big clunky sub falling to the bottom of the sea) rather than anything thrilling; it even does a rather dull ski chase, which I thought would be impossible. You couldn't say it was a bad Bond movie, but I couldn't help feeling underwhelmed.
Book review - "Don't Say Yes Until I've Finished Talking" by Mel Gussow (1971)
A bright lively bio of Daryl F. Zanuck written when he was the last surviving tycoon of the great days of Hollywood; not that he lasted much longer, being turfed from his position around the time the book came out. He then pretty much went into retirement, and apparently went senile, living in Palm Springs - however he did live to see his son Dick become one of the leading producers in Hollywood.
This book benefits from the fact so many of its participants were alive, chiefly Zanuck himself - but also his son, wife, colleagues. While an admiring book, some warts are shown - Gussow doesn't stint on criticism of Zanuck's midlife crisis (performing acrobatics, running off with various women) and some of 20 Century Fox's poorer movies; it explores his prickly personality, womanising, various corporate struggles, unusual family life.
Full of lively anecdotes, such as the competitive croquet games, and memorable bits like Zanuck's touching admission that he doesn't have many friends. You need to read this in conjunction with later books on Zanuck but its very entertaining.
This book benefits from the fact so many of its participants were alive, chiefly Zanuck himself - but also his son, wife, colleagues. While an admiring book, some warts are shown - Gussow doesn't stint on criticism of Zanuck's midlife crisis (performing acrobatics, running off with various women) and some of 20 Century Fox's poorer movies; it explores his prickly personality, womanising, various corporate struggles, unusual family life.
Full of lively anecdotes, such as the competitive croquet games, and memorable bits like Zanuck's touching admission that he doesn't have many friends. You need to read this in conjunction with later books on Zanuck but its very entertaining.
Book review - "Operation Storm" by Roger Cole and Richard Belfield
The Battle of Mirbat is a surprisingly not well known British Imperial/SAS triumph from a time when the Western powers weren't really kicking goals in foreign policy - 1972. It involved, so the blurb says, nine SAS fighting off a well organised force of over 400 rebels desperate to knock off the Sultan of Oman... but actually that wasn't the whole truth, there were over a score of Omanis on the SAS's side, helping out, firing guns and taking casualties.
That's still an impressive achievement, but this book does suffer from an overly pro-SAS view; everything the SAS does is brave, clever or wonderful. Now I'm sure they were brave, clever and wonderful, but describing a few flaws (or at least fleshing out the stories of the opposition) wouldn't have hurt.
Anyway, I did enjoy the book, and its surprising this tale hasn't been filmed yet, especially considering the success the British film industry has enjoyed with war movies. It's full of memorable anecdotes and stories: the very British coup with the mad sultan whisked off to the Dorchester; the fact many of the SAS fought the battle in thongs and used margarine to ease their bullets through their machine guns; the role of luck in battle (grenades that go dead, bullets that just missed).
That's still an impressive achievement, but this book does suffer from an overly pro-SAS view; everything the SAS does is brave, clever or wonderful. Now I'm sure they were brave, clever and wonderful, but describing a few flaws (or at least fleshing out the stories of the opposition) wouldn't have hurt.
Anyway, I did enjoy the book, and its surprising this tale hasn't been filmed yet, especially considering the success the British film industry has enjoyed with war movies. It's full of memorable anecdotes and stories: the very British coup with the mad sultan whisked off to the Dorchester; the fact many of the SAS fought the battle in thongs and used margarine to ease their bullets through their machine guns; the role of luck in battle (grenades that go dead, bullets that just missed).
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Movie review - "Young Mr Lincoln" (1939) ***1/2
This is a famous classic, I get that, but a lot of it got on my nerves - maybe I was in a bad mood, but there was a little too much of Henry Fonda in a fake nose, and slice of small town life, and gossiping character actors, and women in bonnets.
It's clearly made with skill and love and there are some terrific moments - like introducing Ann Rutlege then cutting to Abe visiting her grave - and I enjoyed the legal story which takes up the bulk of the action. Donald Meek has more fire than I'm used to seeing him playing the prosecutor.
Still I can't help feeling this was over-rated: too much common sense, people being cute and saying "I reckon", sunsets and Lincoln being a man of destiny. I was like, alright already. The issue of black people is mostly skirted apart from some mention that slaves are making it hard to be a farmer in Kentucky.
It's clearly made with skill and love and there are some terrific moments - like introducing Ann Rutlege then cutting to Abe visiting her grave - and I enjoyed the legal story which takes up the bulk of the action. Donald Meek has more fire than I'm used to seeing him playing the prosecutor.
Still I can't help feeling this was over-rated: too much common sense, people being cute and saying "I reckon", sunsets and Lincoln being a man of destiny. I was like, alright already. The issue of black people is mostly skirted apart from some mention that slaves are making it hard to be a farmer in Kentucky.
Movie review - "The Killers" (1964) **1/2
For a long time the reputation of this movie lived in the shadow of the more famous 1946 version (which made Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner stars) but it has risen in recent years. I wasn't wild about it, though it has an amazing cast, led by Lee Marvin in outstandingly good form. Maybe modern day viewers are attracted to the idea of rehabilitating its reputation as well as the misogyny in the story (a lot of cult films are misogynistic).
The idea of the killers looking into the past of the man they have killed may have seemed fresh, but having raised a vaguely plausible reason for them to bother - they are keen to get their hands on a million dollars - this is basically dropped and it feels like the killers investigate out of interest, which doesn't make sense. While Lee Marvin's performance is excellent it's just weird that he's acting like a cop and also that Clu Gulager (as his very 60s hitman offsider - sunglasses, talking jive) goes along with it.
Its not really a complex story: a woman is responsible for all the bad things, here played by Angie Dickinson. She's mistress to Ronald Reagan, but leads on driver John Cassevetes, and eventually betrays the latter. Everyone gets what's comin' to 'em.
Dickinson is beautiful, Cassevetes does the doomed tormented victim thing, Norman Fell and Claude Akins flesh out the support cast. There are some effective moments, such as the finale, lots of slapping and the opening scene where Marvin and Gulager threaten a school principal then make their very public way to track down Cassevetes (NB I thought hired killers were a bit more subtle). But it's an ugly looking movie - with garish colour and that flat Universal TV appearance - and Ronald Regan isn't that good, despite the novelty of him playing an out and out baddie.
The idea of the killers looking into the past of the man they have killed may have seemed fresh, but having raised a vaguely plausible reason for them to bother - they are keen to get their hands on a million dollars - this is basically dropped and it feels like the killers investigate out of interest, which doesn't make sense. While Lee Marvin's performance is excellent it's just weird that he's acting like a cop and also that Clu Gulager (as his very 60s hitman offsider - sunglasses, talking jive) goes along with it.
Its not really a complex story: a woman is responsible for all the bad things, here played by Angie Dickinson. She's mistress to Ronald Reagan, but leads on driver John Cassevetes, and eventually betrays the latter. Everyone gets what's comin' to 'em.
Dickinson is beautiful, Cassevetes does the doomed tormented victim thing, Norman Fell and Claude Akins flesh out the support cast. There are some effective moments, such as the finale, lots of slapping and the opening scene where Marvin and Gulager threaten a school principal then make their very public way to track down Cassevetes (NB I thought hired killers were a bit more subtle). But it's an ugly looking movie - with garish colour and that flat Universal TV appearance - and Ronald Regan isn't that good, despite the novelty of him playing an out and out baddie.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Movie review - Bond#17 - "GoldenEye" (1995) ****
You've got to feel for Pierce Brosnan - when Daniel Craig came along as James Bond, such was the excitement over him that it's almost as if Pierce never existed, which is a shame because he did some fine work, and more importantly helped shepherd the "franchise" (for lack of a better word) back to success after a long spell on the bench.
Brosnan had of course been signed to play the role in The Living Daylights but lost out when NBC insisted he still make Remington Steele; he probably didn't think it at the time, but the gap turned out to be something of a blessing in disguise because the extra decade gave him some more lines and experience, made him a more realistic secret agent. He's a bit uptight in some scenes, lacks the humour of Moore or Connery (which wasn't a problem in Remington Steele, interestingly enough), and is not as good an actor as Dalton, but he's handsome and dashing, does the quips okay and is strong on action.
The movie has a whiff of 90s political correctness - Bond is called a sexist misogynist, Moneypenny accuses him of sexual harrasment, Bond admits sending some Cossacks back to Stalin after World War Two was not Britain's finest hour (this line has always annoyed me - why were the Cossacks dumb enough to think Britain would fight their wartime ally straight after peace?) - but I guess these things needed to be said at some stage.
The script is strong - although not based on a Fleming novel, it is very much in the spirit of them: there's a villain who is getting revenge on England for the wrongs done to his people rather like Hugo Drax in the novel of Moonraker; a Bond girl who is integral to the story (Izabella Scorupco, who has a nice Three Days of the Condor type subplot of her own); a decent plan, a funny ally (Robert Coltrane as a former Russian agent), some witty lines. It's a great idea to have the villain a former 00 agent (these had popped up sporadically in previous films, usually as corpses or mentioned as going to take over Bond's mission), although I was frustrated why they didn't have Felix Leiter instead of some random CIA guy Jack Wade. And the opening action stunt is silly and unbelievable - it pushes it too far.
Locations wise I felt too much of it was set in Russia, which tends to be overly brown, overcast and dull; there are also scenes in Monaco and Cuba, and the movie could have done with more of this colour. There were also a surprisingly large amount of two hander action scenes as if the budget for extras wasn't large.
Brosnan is surrounded by a superb support cast: Sean Bean is a solid head villain; Famke Janssen is a superb henchwoman, one of the best (as a killer who gets orgasmic at the sight of blood); Coltrane, Gottfried John and Alan Cumming are fun as Russians; Scorupco isn't an all time leading Bond girl, but is pretty, brave, likeable and sensible; Judi Dench makes an outstanding M, utterly believable and compelling.
Eric Serra's music score is fascinating, containing some dreadful electronic tunes and a wonderfully romantic theme, "We Share the Same Passions". The title song, by Bono/the Edge/ and Tine Turner, is awesome.
Brosnan had of course been signed to play the role in The Living Daylights but lost out when NBC insisted he still make Remington Steele; he probably didn't think it at the time, but the gap turned out to be something of a blessing in disguise because the extra decade gave him some more lines and experience, made him a more realistic secret agent. He's a bit uptight in some scenes, lacks the humour of Moore or Connery (which wasn't a problem in Remington Steele, interestingly enough), and is not as good an actor as Dalton, but he's handsome and dashing, does the quips okay and is strong on action.
The movie has a whiff of 90s political correctness - Bond is called a sexist misogynist, Moneypenny accuses him of sexual harrasment, Bond admits sending some Cossacks back to Stalin after World War Two was not Britain's finest hour (this line has always annoyed me - why were the Cossacks dumb enough to think Britain would fight their wartime ally straight after peace?) - but I guess these things needed to be said at some stage.
The script is strong - although not based on a Fleming novel, it is very much in the spirit of them: there's a villain who is getting revenge on England for the wrongs done to his people rather like Hugo Drax in the novel of Moonraker; a Bond girl who is integral to the story (Izabella Scorupco, who has a nice Three Days of the Condor type subplot of her own); a decent plan, a funny ally (Robert Coltrane as a former Russian agent), some witty lines. It's a great idea to have the villain a former 00 agent (these had popped up sporadically in previous films, usually as corpses or mentioned as going to take over Bond's mission), although I was frustrated why they didn't have Felix Leiter instead of some random CIA guy Jack Wade. And the opening action stunt is silly and unbelievable - it pushes it too far.
Locations wise I felt too much of it was set in Russia, which tends to be overly brown, overcast and dull; there are also scenes in Monaco and Cuba, and the movie could have done with more of this colour. There were also a surprisingly large amount of two hander action scenes as if the budget for extras wasn't large.
Brosnan is surrounded by a superb support cast: Sean Bean is a solid head villain; Famke Janssen is a superb henchwoman, one of the best (as a killer who gets orgasmic at the sight of blood); Coltrane, Gottfried John and Alan Cumming are fun as Russians; Scorupco isn't an all time leading Bond girl, but is pretty, brave, likeable and sensible; Judi Dench makes an outstanding M, utterly believable and compelling.
Eric Serra's music score is fascinating, containing some dreadful electronic tunes and a wonderfully romantic theme, "We Share the Same Passions". The title song, by Bono/the Edge/ and Tine Turner, is awesome.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Movie review - Bond#14 - "A View to a Kill" (1985) ***
A frustrating grab bag of a Bond film - not great, with some truly terrible moments, but good ones as well. It starts like gangbusters, with a lively ski chase sequence (a little soon after For Your Eyes Only perhaps, but very well done, with a then-fresh snowboarding angle... why don't they do ski chases any more?), and an outstanding Duran Duran theme song.
Then it gets more mixed. There's the unmemorable Robert Brown as M and Lois Maxwell in her last appearance as Mrs Moneypenny looking really old (her acting seems to have gotten worse), but some pleasing location footage at Ascot and French stables. It is fun to have Patrick Macnee act opposite Roger Moore although his part really should have been played by Desmond Llewellyn as Q (because the characters had more history - that banter would have been more fun).
Apparently Chris Walken's part was originally offered to David Bowie, who would have been fantastic but Walken is fine - he's not remotely French but at eat he tries something different for a Bond villain (a sort of method-y portrayal). The character, Zorin, seems inspired by Hugo Drax from the book Moonraker with a dash of Goldfinger thrown in.
Zorin's plan is very Goldfinger - trying to create a monopoly in an important product (in this case, microchips) by wiping out the leading American producer in said product (here, wiping out Silicon Valley by causing an earthquake), raising funds by contacting a crime syndicate for money and killing people who don't want to be involved in the plan (by dropping them out of an airship instead of killing them in a car), and connections with the Russians.
Also like Goldfinger, Zorin has a sexy assistant who sleeps with Bond and later changes sides - although May Day (Grace Jones) is far more ruthless than Pussy Galore ever was, meaning she has to die even after she turns good. It's a shame in a way because Grace Jones is one of the all time great Bond villain henchman - she's spectacular, scary and utterly convincing; the scene where she gets on top of Roger Moore is hilarious. And also because the girl Bond winds up with at the end, Tanya Roberts, is incredibly bland. She's pretty, but too whiny, constantly asking for Bond to help her, and she's not even needed in the story.
(Far better value is Fiona Fullerton as a sexy Russian spy who becomes briefly involved in the case; I wish they'd gone with her as the girl but maybe the filmmakers were worried about being too close to The Spy Who Loved Me... as if that would have mattered).
It's a very up and down movie; pros include a decent Eiffel Tower action sequence, a genuinely clever bit where Bond escapes by breathing air in a tire, some funny lines, Zorin's engaging collection of fellow villains (a couple of girls in addition to May Day such as Alison Doody's Jenny Flex and Patrick Bauchau as a sauve henchman decent stunts and spectacle at the Golden Gate Bridge, and an early appearance by Dolph Lundgren.
Cons include an extremely dull and pointless car chase through San Francisco, Zorin shooting his men at the end (I think the idea was to make him seem a real psycho but it falls flat), an overlong running time, the fact Zorin's plan was already seen in Superman, a complete lack of chemistry between Moore and Roberts, and the fact that Moore was becoming far too old for the part. He definitely stayed one too long.
Then it gets more mixed. There's the unmemorable Robert Brown as M and Lois Maxwell in her last appearance as Mrs Moneypenny looking really old (her acting seems to have gotten worse), but some pleasing location footage at Ascot and French stables. It is fun to have Patrick Macnee act opposite Roger Moore although his part really should have been played by Desmond Llewellyn as Q (because the characters had more history - that banter would have been more fun).
Apparently Chris Walken's part was originally offered to David Bowie, who would have been fantastic but Walken is fine - he's not remotely French but at eat he tries something different for a Bond villain (a sort of method-y portrayal). The character, Zorin, seems inspired by Hugo Drax from the book Moonraker with a dash of Goldfinger thrown in.
Zorin's plan is very Goldfinger - trying to create a monopoly in an important product (in this case, microchips) by wiping out the leading American producer in said product (here, wiping out Silicon Valley by causing an earthquake), raising funds by contacting a crime syndicate for money and killing people who don't want to be involved in the plan (by dropping them out of an airship instead of killing them in a car), and connections with the Russians.
Also like Goldfinger, Zorin has a sexy assistant who sleeps with Bond and later changes sides - although May Day (Grace Jones) is far more ruthless than Pussy Galore ever was, meaning she has to die even after she turns good. It's a shame in a way because Grace Jones is one of the all time great Bond villain henchman - she's spectacular, scary and utterly convincing; the scene where she gets on top of Roger Moore is hilarious. And also because the girl Bond winds up with at the end, Tanya Roberts, is incredibly bland. She's pretty, but too whiny, constantly asking for Bond to help her, and she's not even needed in the story.
(Far better value is Fiona Fullerton as a sexy Russian spy who becomes briefly involved in the case; I wish they'd gone with her as the girl but maybe the filmmakers were worried about being too close to The Spy Who Loved Me... as if that would have mattered).
It's a very up and down movie; pros include a decent Eiffel Tower action sequence, a genuinely clever bit where Bond escapes by breathing air in a tire, some funny lines, Zorin's engaging collection of fellow villains (a couple of girls in addition to May Day such as Alison Doody's Jenny Flex and Patrick Bauchau as a sauve henchman decent stunts and spectacle at the Golden Gate Bridge, and an early appearance by Dolph Lundgren.
Cons include an extremely dull and pointless car chase through San Francisco, Zorin shooting his men at the end (I think the idea was to make him seem a real psycho but it falls flat), an overlong running time, the fact Zorin's plan was already seen in Superman, a complete lack of chemistry between Moore and Roberts, and the fact that Moore was becoming far too old for the part. He definitely stayed one too long.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Movie review - Bond#15 - "The Living Daylights" (1987) ****1/2
Once again, the Bond series manages to reinvent itself at the right time... after Roger Moore and A View to a Kill seemed so old and tired, things bounce back to form magnificently with this highly enjoyable entry. I recognise this isn't a universally accepted point of view - the movie was not a big hit at the box office, it's not that well known compared to other entries - but I feel it's aged well, and returned things to a more even keel, one of the things that has enabled the series to last so long.
Timothy Dalton wasn't exactly Mr Action Man - the back projection is a bit too obvious when he's hanging off planes and cars - but his youth is a tonic after Roger Moore, and he has dark good looks, and a believably ruthless streak. He's also surprisingly - and touchingly - romantic. Bond doesn't sleep around in this one; he flirts with some girls but only really has eyes for Marym d'Abo, who is one of the most likeable Bond heroines, Kara. Kara is a top cellist completely out of her element in the adventure, and d'Abo brings a winning naivety to the part; she's so much better than Tanya Roberts. John Barry's romantic theme and some pleasing shots of Vienna add to the romance.
It's an excellent script, which skilfully incorporates the Fleming short story that gives the film it's title, and is well thought out and witty. There are some flaws - the one liners aren't super strong, I wasn't wild about Kara's incompetence causing the plane bottom to open up at the end, the finale in Afghanistan went on too long, an over use of the exploding key ring device - but these are easily outweighed by the strengths.
The support cast is of high quality: Jeroen Krabbe is an engaging rougish Russian general, Joe Don Baker is always good value as a military nut gun dealer, Art Malik is fun as an Afghan leader, John Rhys Davis is superb value as another Russian (it's a shame they didn't bring him back for other movies in the series), as is Andreas Wisniewski as a truly frightening, smart henchman (the best of the Red Grant rip offs; takes part in a really tough kitchen fight sequence with a British agent who isn't Bond - this is given a surprisingly long running time).
Of the regulars Desmond Llewellyn and Walter Gotell (his last appearances) are in good form, Robert Brown isn't memorable, or is the latest bloke to play Felix Leiter, and Caroline Bliss a disappointingly poor new Moneypenny. Sexy Aussie Virginia Hey pops up too as Rhy Davis' mistress.
Locations are varied and exotic: Gibraltar (I love it when Bond defends the crappy modern day British Empire, it's so cute) Tangiers, Vienna, Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan. Decent stunts and action - nothing particularly awesome, just solid, smart Bond movie making. Poor theme song (by A Ha, who prove yet again they are no Duran Duran) but a lovely romantic tune from John Barry, doing his last music score for the series.
Timothy Dalton wasn't exactly Mr Action Man - the back projection is a bit too obvious when he's hanging off planes and cars - but his youth is a tonic after Roger Moore, and he has dark good looks, and a believably ruthless streak. He's also surprisingly - and touchingly - romantic. Bond doesn't sleep around in this one; he flirts with some girls but only really has eyes for Marym d'Abo, who is one of the most likeable Bond heroines, Kara. Kara is a top cellist completely out of her element in the adventure, and d'Abo brings a winning naivety to the part; she's so much better than Tanya Roberts. John Barry's romantic theme and some pleasing shots of Vienna add to the romance.
It's an excellent script, which skilfully incorporates the Fleming short story that gives the film it's title, and is well thought out and witty. There are some flaws - the one liners aren't super strong, I wasn't wild about Kara's incompetence causing the plane bottom to open up at the end, the finale in Afghanistan went on too long, an over use of the exploding key ring device - but these are easily outweighed by the strengths.
The support cast is of high quality: Jeroen Krabbe is an engaging rougish Russian general, Joe Don Baker is always good value as a military nut gun dealer, Art Malik is fun as an Afghan leader, John Rhys Davis is superb value as another Russian (it's a shame they didn't bring him back for other movies in the series), as is Andreas Wisniewski as a truly frightening, smart henchman (the best of the Red Grant rip offs; takes part in a really tough kitchen fight sequence with a British agent who isn't Bond - this is given a surprisingly long running time).
Of the regulars Desmond Llewellyn and Walter Gotell (his last appearances) are in good form, Robert Brown isn't memorable, or is the latest bloke to play Felix Leiter, and Caroline Bliss a disappointingly poor new Moneypenny. Sexy Aussie Virginia Hey pops up too as Rhy Davis' mistress.
Locations are varied and exotic: Gibraltar (I love it when Bond defends the crappy modern day British Empire, it's so cute) Tangiers, Vienna, Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan. Decent stunts and action - nothing particularly awesome, just solid, smart Bond movie making. Poor theme song (by A Ha, who prove yet again they are no Duran Duran) but a lovely romantic tune from John Barry, doing his last music score for the series.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
John Landis, George MacDonald Fraser and the Lone Ranger
On October 12, 2013 I had the honour/delight of meeting John Landis while he was in Melbourne as a guest of the Melbourne Festival. It was at a book signing where he was putting his John Hancock on his book about movie monsters.
During our five minute chat, I managed to ask him a few questions, in particular about his collaboration with one of my favourite writers, George MacDonald Fraser, on a script about the Lone Ranger which Fraser refers to in his memoirs. (Fraser whined about political correctness in Hollywood causing the deletion of a scene where Indians were made drunk despite the fact it was based on history, but also said it was a shame the movie was never made as he and Landis got along like "ham and eggs".)
Landis brightened at the mention of this and said Fraser's script (the writer did two drafts) was one of the best he'd ever read, but didn't get made because of a long, complicated issue partly involving the rights.
The director also said:
- he really liked Fraser even though the author was very right wing and they were an odd couple but they collaborated well
- the script was very historically accurate - Tonto always spoke Indian when he was with Indians and only English when he was with whites
- there was a funny subplot about a touring Shakespearean actor where Tonto ended up speaking words of the Bard
- there was a romantic scene where people were looking for the Lone Ranger and he hid in a room and kissed a woman several times and she ended up not minding (inspired I feel by The 39 Steps).
Landis wasn't a big fan of the 1981 or 2013 movies and expressed regret the movie wasn't made. I think there's a fair few of those in his career though and he wasn't bitter about it.
A lovely short chat - I figured I'd put it on the net in case anyone is interested!
During our five minute chat, I managed to ask him a few questions, in particular about his collaboration with one of my favourite writers, George MacDonald Fraser, on a script about the Lone Ranger which Fraser refers to in his memoirs. (Fraser whined about political correctness in Hollywood causing the deletion of a scene where Indians were made drunk despite the fact it was based on history, but also said it was a shame the movie was never made as he and Landis got along like "ham and eggs".)
Landis brightened at the mention of this and said Fraser's script (the writer did two drafts) was one of the best he'd ever read, but didn't get made because of a long, complicated issue partly involving the rights.
The director also said:
- he really liked Fraser even though the author was very right wing and they were an odd couple but they collaborated well
- the script was very historically accurate - Tonto always spoke Indian when he was with Indians and only English when he was with whites
- there was a funny subplot about a touring Shakespearean actor where Tonto ended up speaking words of the Bard
- there was a romantic scene where people were looking for the Lone Ranger and he hid in a room and kissed a woman several times and she ended up not minding (inspired I feel by The 39 Steps).
Landis wasn't a big fan of the 1981 or 2013 movies and expressed regret the movie wasn't made. I think there's a fair few of those in his career though and he wasn't bitter about it.
A lovely short chat - I figured I'd put it on the net in case anyone is interested!
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Movie review - "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) ****
George Raft wouldn't have done too badly as Sam Spade in this classic private eye mystery but no way near as well as Humphrey Bogart who took the role and completely ran with it, launching himself as a star. And no wonder - its remarkable what an anti-hero Spade is: mean, cruel, sleeping with his partner's wife, sadistic (look at his face when he punches Peter Lorre), greedy, snarky. His saving grace is a sense of honour and the fact the villains are worse. Or, more accurately, fabulous: was there ever a better rogues gallery than Sydney Greenstreet, Lorre, Elisha Cook Jnr and Mary Astor (who I never used to be a fan of but my appreciation of her performance grows every time I see this film)?
There is an awful lot of exposition going on here - great slabs of dialogue which go on and on, and to be honest sometimes I had trouble following the plot. But I went with it because the acting and dialogue was so good - there's encounter after encounter between masters at their peak: Bogart and Astor, Bogart and Lorre, Bogart and Greenstreet. I felt it could have done with some more emotion - I never really got the sense that Bogart fell for Astor, despite that dynamic finish.
Lots of gay subtext - Lorre/Cairo is campy, Greenstreet/Gutman keeps pawing Bogart - plenty of nice touches (eg Bogart's hand shaking after an encounter with the others), a cute cameo from Walter Huston, some scary cops (Ward Bond and Barton MacLane), plenty of rich supporting roles.
There is an awful lot of exposition going on here - great slabs of dialogue which go on and on, and to be honest sometimes I had trouble following the plot. But I went with it because the acting and dialogue was so good - there's encounter after encounter between masters at their peak: Bogart and Astor, Bogart and Lorre, Bogart and Greenstreet. I felt it could have done with some more emotion - I never really got the sense that Bogart fell for Astor, despite that dynamic finish.
Lots of gay subtext - Lorre/Cairo is campy, Greenstreet/Gutman keeps pawing Bogart - plenty of nice touches (eg Bogart's hand shaking after an encounter with the others), a cute cameo from Walter Huston, some scary cops (Ward Bond and Barton MacLane), plenty of rich supporting roles.
Movie review - "Casablanca" (1942) ***** (warning: spoilers)
As one of the screenwriters put it, this is corny as hell but when corn works it works like nothing else and few movies work as well as Casablanca with its magical combination of war, romance, honour, comedy, Warner Bros handling, Hollywood's greatest line up of character actors, music, third world backlot recreation and stars.
I've seen this many times - the most recent in 2013, when I was struck by several new things. It's a surprising tribute to France - France, which, as exemplified by Claude Rains' Rene and Madeleine LeBeau's Yvonne, is corrupt, egotistical, lecherous, whorish... but which ultimately comes through in the end: Yvonne sings the Marseilles in what remains probably my favourite film scene of all time, and Rains helps Bogie/Rick get away at the finale, one of the greatest endings of all time.
It's very adult. Rick is clearly sleeping with Yvonne, and had a sexual relationship with Ilsa, Rene sleeps with women in exchange for visas, roulette wheels are rigged, people are shot without trial, the police are corrupt, America are isolationists, life is rough for refugees.
It also has one of the best casts you can think of. Everyone knows Bogart was a perfect Rick - tough, bitter, brave romantic (others could have played the role - Alan Ladd did okay on radio - but no one as effectively), and that Berman was stunningly beautiful (who else could make adultery seem so innocent), and Claude Rains astonishing, and Paul Henreid wasn't up any of them but had a handsome dull presence and was effective; the skill of Peter Lorre, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet and Dooley Wilson is also well known. But the depth of it continues to astound - Curt Bois as a pickpocket, Leonid Kinskey as a happy go lucky barman, Dan Seymour as the doorman, Joy Page as a young Bulgarian woman (her scene with Bogie made me tear up... I can't believe she didn't have more of a career) and Helmut Dantine as her husband; LeBeau as the touching Yvonne; John Qualen as a resistance contact; the cute old couple excited about going to America. Many of the cast were real life refugees giving this incredible verisimilitude.
I will nitpick for the sheer hell of it - it made me laugh that Rick puts the transit visas in the piano in full view of his entire cafe, the choreography of what happened in the cafe sometimes got plain darn confusing and Bergman's character is, to be frank, a ninny (she's required to be for plot purposes admittedly, so Rick can make the big sacrifice).
But it all works - the story, cast, setting, themes, atmosphere. And so much of it is magical: Page asking Bogart is she should sleep with Rains, the Marseilles, the surprise when Rains saves Bogart at the end, walking off into the sunset.
I've seen this many times - the most recent in 2013, when I was struck by several new things. It's a surprising tribute to France - France, which, as exemplified by Claude Rains' Rene and Madeleine LeBeau's Yvonne, is corrupt, egotistical, lecherous, whorish... but which ultimately comes through in the end: Yvonne sings the Marseilles in what remains probably my favourite film scene of all time, and Rains helps Bogie/Rick get away at the finale, one of the greatest endings of all time.
It's very adult. Rick is clearly sleeping with Yvonne, and had a sexual relationship with Ilsa, Rene sleeps with women in exchange for visas, roulette wheels are rigged, people are shot without trial, the police are corrupt, America are isolationists, life is rough for refugees.
It also has one of the best casts you can think of. Everyone knows Bogart was a perfect Rick - tough, bitter, brave romantic (others could have played the role - Alan Ladd did okay on radio - but no one as effectively), and that Berman was stunningly beautiful (who else could make adultery seem so innocent), and Claude Rains astonishing, and Paul Henreid wasn't up any of them but had a handsome dull presence and was effective; the skill of Peter Lorre, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet and Dooley Wilson is also well known. But the depth of it continues to astound - Curt Bois as a pickpocket, Leonid Kinskey as a happy go lucky barman, Dan Seymour as the doorman, Joy Page as a young Bulgarian woman (her scene with Bogie made me tear up... I can't believe she didn't have more of a career) and Helmut Dantine as her husband; LeBeau as the touching Yvonne; John Qualen as a resistance contact; the cute old couple excited about going to America. Many of the cast were real life refugees giving this incredible verisimilitude.
I will nitpick for the sheer hell of it - it made me laugh that Rick puts the transit visas in the piano in full view of his entire cafe, the choreography of what happened in the cafe sometimes got plain darn confusing and Bergman's character is, to be frank, a ninny (she's required to be for plot purposes admittedly, so Rick can make the big sacrifice).
But it all works - the story, cast, setting, themes, atmosphere. And so much of it is magical: Page asking Bogart is she should sleep with Rains, the Marseilles, the surprise when Rains saves Bogart at the end, walking off into the sunset.
TV review - "Power Games: The Packer-Murdoch Story" (2013) **1/2
The underwhelming ratings of this mini series came as a shock to many observers, especially considering the popularity of previous Packer tales, Howzat! and Paper Giants. Viewer fatigue with the Packers was blamed, but was it the only thing? I think three other factors were crucial - the lack of female interest, the fact it deals with events most people don't remember/recall, and perhaps most importantly it's not about an underdog triumphing for a good cause.
In Howzat the underdogs were the cricketers who finally got a fair day's pay via one day cricket, which people really like and was ultimately a good thing; in Paper Giants Ita Buttrose overcome obstacles to be editor and helped more honest conversation about racy topics, which people really like and was ultimately a good thing. (The Paper Giants sequel didn't do as well, IMHO, because while it was about a woman who triumphed, she did it by increasing the amount of schlocky invasive gossip out there, which ultimately wasn't a good thing. Also Kerry Packer was a passenger as opposed to a key character.)
Here the only real underdog is Rupert Murdoch - and no one except the Murdochs and Andrew Bolt would think him triumphing was ultimately a good thing. The events all took place a long time ago now - the sixties - and lack much nostalgic appeal, so they require more than the skim-through-history-as-montage method which features here.
Even with these drawbacks it still could have worked - the Packer and Murdoch families are the stuff of Shakespeare: megalomaniacal, sexually voracious, bullies, crawlers, pirates, brave, funny. And occasionally a glimpse of what this could have been sneaks through, particularly in the dynamics between Sir Frank and Clyde. But most of the time this is strictly broad strokes - the piece has been fatally compromised by the fact it was made by Channel Nine, the fact Rupert Murdoch is alive and that Southern Star got away with skimpy character development in their other history montage biopics. If this had aired on the ABC I think it would have rated better because audiences would have sensed a gutsier depiction of the tycoons (and it's more an ABC show)
There are some good performances, particularly from Lachy Hulme as Sir Frank Packer (although Pat Brammel, while normally a fine actor, lacks the ruthlessness and sense of being a prick that would have made his Rupert Murdoch more compelling) but the actors could have done with better parts. All the female roles are forgettable - there's "brave cancer sufferer" (Heather Mitchell), a whining "why are you never home type", and a pretty girl with long eye lashes (Maeve Dermondy, who's really got to watch playing this sort of role in period mini-series otherwise she's never going to do anything else). It's watchable, but it's a pity.
In Howzat the underdogs were the cricketers who finally got a fair day's pay via one day cricket, which people really like and was ultimately a good thing; in Paper Giants Ita Buttrose overcome obstacles to be editor and helped more honest conversation about racy topics, which people really like and was ultimately a good thing. (The Paper Giants sequel didn't do as well, IMHO, because while it was about a woman who triumphed, she did it by increasing the amount of schlocky invasive gossip out there, which ultimately wasn't a good thing. Also Kerry Packer was a passenger as opposed to a key character.)
Here the only real underdog is Rupert Murdoch - and no one except the Murdochs and Andrew Bolt would think him triumphing was ultimately a good thing. The events all took place a long time ago now - the sixties - and lack much nostalgic appeal, so they require more than the skim-through-history-as-montage method which features here.
Even with these drawbacks it still could have worked - the Packer and Murdoch families are the stuff of Shakespeare: megalomaniacal, sexually voracious, bullies, crawlers, pirates, brave, funny. And occasionally a glimpse of what this could have been sneaks through, particularly in the dynamics between Sir Frank and Clyde. But most of the time this is strictly broad strokes - the piece has been fatally compromised by the fact it was made by Channel Nine, the fact Rupert Murdoch is alive and that Southern Star got away with skimpy character development in their other history montage biopics. If this had aired on the ABC I think it would have rated better because audiences would have sensed a gutsier depiction of the tycoons (and it's more an ABC show)
There are some good performances, particularly from Lachy Hulme as Sir Frank Packer (although Pat Brammel, while normally a fine actor, lacks the ruthlessness and sense of being a prick that would have made his Rupert Murdoch more compelling) but the actors could have done with better parts. All the female roles are forgettable - there's "brave cancer sufferer" (Heather Mitchell), a whining "why are you never home type", and a pretty girl with long eye lashes (Maeve Dermondy, who's really got to watch playing this sort of role in period mini-series otherwise she's never going to do anything else). It's watchable, but it's a pity.
Saturday, October 12, 2013
TV review - "Entourage Season 1" (2004) ****
The later seasons got so bad and boring that it is a peasant surprise to revisit season one of this Sex and the City for guys. Looking back its striking how they got the different characterisations so right, and cast the leads so well: Jimmy Cagney-like Eric (feisty, short, loyal); head in the clouds Vince (talented, a bit lazy, reliant on friends to look after him and tell him the truth); likeable leech Turtle (simplistic, funny); and tormented Drama. It's the guys who give this heart but Drama who gives it depth because he makes it clear how fleeting fame and even work is in the industry - one or two wrong choices and it all goes away. Being a star is a tricky balancing act... and when the show forgot this in later seasons it really hurt.
Of course there is Jeremy Piven's Ari Gold - a lot sleazier in this season that he would later become (which was a lot more interesting character wise... that he was faithful to his wife) but still the same angry ruthless person, and his conflict with Eric is again something that would unfortunately be forgotten.
The women have no more depth than the men on Sex in the City but make good eye candy; the writing is sharp, the plot twists fun, it has a good over all arc (setting up Queen's Boulevard), and it remains enjoyable escapist TV.
Of course there is Jeremy Piven's Ari Gold - a lot sleazier in this season that he would later become (which was a lot more interesting character wise... that he was faithful to his wife) but still the same angry ruthless person, and his conflict with Eric is again something that would unfortunately be forgotten.
The women have no more depth than the men on Sex in the City but make good eye candy; the writing is sharp, the plot twists fun, it has a good over all arc (setting up Queen's Boulevard), and it remains enjoyable escapist TV.
Movie review - "The Blues Brothers" (1980) ***
Big lousy noisy cartoon musical which glories in its excess, pouring on the music numbers and car crashes with abandon. Actually in this CGI age its enjoyable to see some good old fashioned cars spinning around and crashing through malls and the music is of course superb. The one number I didn't feel worked was "Think" by Aretha Franklin - a terrific song but a bit of a downer number because she's trying to persuade her husband not to run off and join the band.
John Belushi outshines Dan Akyroyd but Aykroyd offers solid support and heck it was his passion that got the whole thing going. The cameos and short bits are a lot of fun: I liked the musos and also John Candy, Carrie Fisher, Steven Spielberg, Frank Oz, Henry Gibson, Charles Napier, and so on. It's silly but it has its own integrity which I think is one of the reasons why it's struck such a chord. That, and the fact that its so easy to dress up as Blues Brothers.
John Belushi outshines Dan Akyroyd but Aykroyd offers solid support and heck it was his passion that got the whole thing going. The cameos and short bits are a lot of fun: I liked the musos and also John Candy, Carrie Fisher, Steven Spielberg, Frank Oz, Henry Gibson, Charles Napier, and so on. It's silly but it has its own integrity which I think is one of the reasons why it's struck such a chord. That, and the fact that its so easy to dress up as Blues Brothers.
Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Movie review - Bond#11 - "Moonraker" (1979) ***
Having revitalised the Bond series with The Spy Who Loved Me, Albert Broccoli and team promptly remade that movie with Moonraker and were rewarded with their biggest grossing work to date... but I think thats because Spy Who Loved Me was so good (and loved)... Moonraker cashed in on its popularity (the same way Thunderball performed so well off the back of the much more loved Goldfinger).
I can understand why they did what they did but it's a shame so much good stuff was jettinsoned from the novel: the heroine name Gala Brand, the villain's plan of setting off a bomb in London, the villain's backstory of being a secret Nazi. Instead there's another megalomaniac who wants to destroy the world and start anew - only in outer space instead of underwater. He employs Jaws and a series of other incompetent assassins and has trouble killing Bond.
Michael Londsale isn't bad as said villain, Hugo Drax - a little laid back. Richard Kiel is charismatic as Jaws although the character is completely neutered here - the genuinely scary baddy of Spy is now more Will E. Coyote, falling out of planes without parachutes and off cable cars and much more without a scratch. But this suits the tone of the movie which is Bond at his most cartoonish.
And if you can accept that you'll enjoy the movie. I loved this when I was eight and that's the ideal age to watch this. There is plenty of production value and action and it unfolds in a simple eight year old style - watching it I kept thinking of old serials, or 50s science fiction movies. One minute we're falling out of a plane, then we're in France pretending to be California, then Venice, then Brazil - going from location to location with the thinnest of pretexts.
Yes, other Bonds have been like serials but the screenplays were better structured and there was some emotional undercurrent - for instance Spy had a great subplot where Bond and XXX were on opposite sides of the Cold War and he'd killed her boyfriend. Here Bond and Dr Goodhead both work for basically the same side and don't have any sort of personal confict. (This also means that Lois Chiles, who is as pretty and equally bad an actor as Barbara Bach, doesn't come across anywhere near as well because her character is much worse). The most emotional bit about this movie is that brief scene where Jaws realises he and his girlfriend won't fit in to his boss' plans for the perfect race of humans and changes sides (because this is such an archetypal theme which strikes such a universal chord I went with this).
But this has its own integrity. It's a silly movie which at least commits to being silly: a space station with a fleet of shuttles, a Noah's ark, a rocket launch platform in the Amazon, a platoon of space soldiers who NASA sends up to outer space at the first sign of a blip on the radar; sex in outerspace.When its stupidity stops being insulting it's almost endearing.
There's also some genuinely spectacular moments: the opening freefall action sequence (though this is marred by a silly Jaws end gag), an attempted murder of Bond on a centrifuge chamber, a fight on top of a cable car. Moore plods through with amiable lecherousness, having a good old time. I enjoyed seeing Geoffrey Keene repeat his turn as "Minister for Defence" in order to help Bernard Lee with his exposition (this was Lee's last appearance - he doesn't look well), Desmond Llewellyn has great fun as Q, and the women are pretty.
I can understand why they did what they did but it's a shame so much good stuff was jettinsoned from the novel: the heroine name Gala Brand, the villain's plan of setting off a bomb in London, the villain's backstory of being a secret Nazi. Instead there's another megalomaniac who wants to destroy the world and start anew - only in outer space instead of underwater. He employs Jaws and a series of other incompetent assassins and has trouble killing Bond.
Michael Londsale isn't bad as said villain, Hugo Drax - a little laid back. Richard Kiel is charismatic as Jaws although the character is completely neutered here - the genuinely scary baddy of Spy is now more Will E. Coyote, falling out of planes without parachutes and off cable cars and much more without a scratch. But this suits the tone of the movie which is Bond at his most cartoonish.
And if you can accept that you'll enjoy the movie. I loved this when I was eight and that's the ideal age to watch this. There is plenty of production value and action and it unfolds in a simple eight year old style - watching it I kept thinking of old serials, or 50s science fiction movies. One minute we're falling out of a plane, then we're in France pretending to be California, then Venice, then Brazil - going from location to location with the thinnest of pretexts.
Yes, other Bonds have been like serials but the screenplays were better structured and there was some emotional undercurrent - for instance Spy had a great subplot where Bond and XXX were on opposite sides of the Cold War and he'd killed her boyfriend. Here Bond and Dr Goodhead both work for basically the same side and don't have any sort of personal confict. (This also means that Lois Chiles, who is as pretty and equally bad an actor as Barbara Bach, doesn't come across anywhere near as well because her character is much worse). The most emotional bit about this movie is that brief scene where Jaws realises he and his girlfriend won't fit in to his boss' plans for the perfect race of humans and changes sides (because this is such an archetypal theme which strikes such a universal chord I went with this).
But this has its own integrity. It's a silly movie which at least commits to being silly: a space station with a fleet of shuttles, a Noah's ark, a rocket launch platform in the Amazon, a platoon of space soldiers who NASA sends up to outer space at the first sign of a blip on the radar; sex in outerspace.When its stupidity stops being insulting it's almost endearing.
There's also some genuinely spectacular moments: the opening freefall action sequence (though this is marred by a silly Jaws end gag), an attempted murder of Bond on a centrifuge chamber, a fight on top of a cable car. Moore plods through with amiable lecherousness, having a good old time. I enjoyed seeing Geoffrey Keene repeat his turn as "Minister for Defence" in order to help Bernard Lee with his exposition (this was Lee's last appearance - he doesn't look well), Desmond Llewellyn has great fun as Q, and the women are pretty.
Tuesday, October 08, 2013
Movie review - Bond#10 - "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977) *****
Part of the success of the Bond film series lies in its incredible ability to reinvent and stay relevant - every time they're in a bit of a slump or threatening to get tired the producers seem to come up with a way of reinvigorating things. In the mid 70s Albert Broccoli was up against it - producer Harry Salztmann was facing tax problems, the last movie hadn't done that well, the public hadn't taken to Roger Moore the way they way with Sean Connery, they couldn't get a script that worked...
And yet, it somehow all magically came together. In part because they deployed a well established story (copying the structure of You Only Live Twice... which had been copied from Dr No), and stuffing it full of familiar ingredients: exotic locations, a Blofeld like-villain (he even has a shark infested pool to dispose of pesty female employees and who likes to kill people rather than pay them), an Odd-job like henchman, a Pussy Galore type spirited Bond girl, a fight on a train, a ski chase, a car chase involving a car with a lot of gadgets, Bond and the girl busted in flagrante delicto at the end.
But the villain is given a fresh twist and superbly cast (Curt Jurgens as a man with webbed hands who wants the world to live underwater); ditto the henchman (Richard Kiel as the vampire like Jaws) and girl (Barbara Bach who is actually a pretty bad actor but you don't notice because (a) she's so beautiful and (b) her character is so strong - easily the smartest, most powerful and imposing Bond girl yet, even more than Pussy Galore).
The ski sequence is very well done with perhaps the greatest end gag in the history of the series; the fight on the train is exciting, the car with gadgets outshines the one in Goldfinger; the battle at the end involving the captured submariners and their odd-red-uniform-wearing gaolers is better than the one in You Only Live Twice.
There is some originality, too: Jaws' teeth, the battle of the sexes between Bond and Barbara Bach (okay this wasn't super original but it was a first for Bond), the underwater lair (cue some fantastic Ken Adams sets with their massive spaces); I loved how the two captured subs are told to blow each other up and the fight amongst the pyramids is genuinely creepy and well shot.
Amidst all the spectacle and sexual banter, the screenwriters still allow some humanity: the fact Bond has killed Anya's boyfriend gives it some real edge, as does Bond shutting down conversation about his dead wife. I like how they referred to Bond's career as a naval officer. They've written to Roger Moore's strengths - he has a wonderful way with a line, loves the romance and fun of it, and is professional about his job (rather being joyously sadistic). He's superb as Bond here, and has every right to be proud of the movie.
In addition to the leads there's also a top rate support cast, including the ever reliable Shane Rimmer given a decent part; Caroline Munro as a sexy, flirty assassin (winking at Bond before trying to kill him); Milton Reid as a Tor Johnson like hitman; Edward de Souza as Bond's old Cambridge classmate. Desmond Llewellyn gets to go on location for a bit which must have been nice for him; Lois Maxwell and Bernard Lee are back (although was he supposed to be on the sub at the beginning of the film?). This movie also saw the introduction of new series regulars like Walter Gotell (who was in From Russia with Love admittedly) and Geoffrey Keene. Oh and Hammer horror fans will get a kick out of seeing Valerie Leon as a receptionist.
I've got the soundtrack and wasn't a fan of it to listen to (all that disco) but it works in the film and the title tune is an all time classic.
And yet, it somehow all magically came together. In part because they deployed a well established story (copying the structure of You Only Live Twice... which had been copied from Dr No), and stuffing it full of familiar ingredients: exotic locations, a Blofeld like-villain (he even has a shark infested pool to dispose of pesty female employees and who likes to kill people rather than pay them), an Odd-job like henchman, a Pussy Galore type spirited Bond girl, a fight on a train, a ski chase, a car chase involving a car with a lot of gadgets, Bond and the girl busted in flagrante delicto at the end.
But the villain is given a fresh twist and superbly cast (Curt Jurgens as a man with webbed hands who wants the world to live underwater); ditto the henchman (Richard Kiel as the vampire like Jaws) and girl (Barbara Bach who is actually a pretty bad actor but you don't notice because (a) she's so beautiful and (b) her character is so strong - easily the smartest, most powerful and imposing Bond girl yet, even more than Pussy Galore).
The ski sequence is very well done with perhaps the greatest end gag in the history of the series; the fight on the train is exciting, the car with gadgets outshines the one in Goldfinger; the battle at the end involving the captured submariners and their odd-red-uniform-wearing gaolers is better than the one in You Only Live Twice.
There is some originality, too: Jaws' teeth, the battle of the sexes between Bond and Barbara Bach (okay this wasn't super original but it was a first for Bond), the underwater lair (cue some fantastic Ken Adams sets with their massive spaces); I loved how the two captured subs are told to blow each other up and the fight amongst the pyramids is genuinely creepy and well shot.
Amidst all the spectacle and sexual banter, the screenwriters still allow some humanity: the fact Bond has killed Anya's boyfriend gives it some real edge, as does Bond shutting down conversation about his dead wife. I like how they referred to Bond's career as a naval officer. They've written to Roger Moore's strengths - he has a wonderful way with a line, loves the romance and fun of it, and is professional about his job (rather being joyously sadistic). He's superb as Bond here, and has every right to be proud of the movie.
In addition to the leads there's also a top rate support cast, including the ever reliable Shane Rimmer given a decent part; Caroline Munro as a sexy, flirty assassin (winking at Bond before trying to kill him); Milton Reid as a Tor Johnson like hitman; Edward de Souza as Bond's old Cambridge classmate. Desmond Llewellyn gets to go on location for a bit which must have been nice for him; Lois Maxwell and Bernard Lee are back (although was he supposed to be on the sub at the beginning of the film?). This movie also saw the introduction of new series regulars like Walter Gotell (who was in From Russia with Love admittedly) and Geoffrey Keene. Oh and Hammer horror fans will get a kick out of seeing Valerie Leon as a receptionist.
I've got the soundtrack and wasn't a fan of it to listen to (all that disco) but it works in the film and the title tune is an all time classic.
Sunday, October 06, 2013
Movie review - "Dawn of the Dead" (1978) ***
The spirit of the 70s is strong in this classic zombie flick - even though the zombies are slow moving and dumb, easy to walk past and kill, the authorities are incapable of stopping them; its general panic stations, the only people who look keen to take them out are rednecks, journalists and SWAT team members want to run away.
The four leads aren't the best actors in the world but all have defined characters - the honorable black guy, the balding white dude who has a romance with the black guy and goes nuts, the silly helicopter pilot, the stunned girl (who remains disappointingly whimpy throughout the movie). All have one thing in common - they consistently make bad decisions.
The setting is clever (a shopping mall), the music rhythmically intense, the action sequences impress, the running time is too long. Enjoyable gore, silly zombie fighting tactics, and plenty of NRA propaganda underneath a thin veneer of redneck bashing.
The four leads aren't the best actors in the world but all have defined characters - the honorable black guy, the balding white dude who has a romance with the black guy and goes nuts, the silly helicopter pilot, the stunned girl (who remains disappointingly whimpy throughout the movie). All have one thing in common - they consistently make bad decisions.
The setting is clever (a shopping mall), the music rhythmically intense, the action sequences impress, the running time is too long. Enjoyable gore, silly zombie fighting tactics, and plenty of NRA propaganda underneath a thin veneer of redneck bashing.
Saturday, October 05, 2013
Movie review - Bond#9 - "The Man with the Golden Gun" (1974) **1/2
Everyone has their own least favourite Bond film but I don't think anyone would get too much flak if they named this one. Still, I was surprised that it wasn't as bad as I'd remembered... even if I'd remembered it as really, really bad.
The frustrating thing is like Diamonds Are Forever there is a good movie inside here, wanting to get out, and we get glimpses of it. The relationship between government assassin Bond and assassin-for-hire Scaramanga was a strong one - men with much in common - and strong basis for drama. The filmmakers helped things by casting Christopher Lee in the role of Scaramanga - good looking, charismatic, believably ruthless... and also a clear contemporary of Roger Moore's. Indeed the characterisation of Scaramanga is better in the film in the novel, where he was more a two bit gangster; here he has more humanity and ambition.
It was a shame though they lost the section in the novel where Bond went undercover as Scaramanga's helper - this could have seen some interesting scenes between the two along the lines of Bond and Robert Davi in Licence to Kill. However they went with the assassin knowing Bond's identity from the get-go (I think to set up the use of the Bond mannequin which is how he ultimately beats Scaramanga.. still, it's a shame since it could have given their relationship more progression).
Some other positive things about the movie: Herve Villechaize's Nick Nack is one of the best villain henchman's ever. (Scaramanga also has a third - some random black guy who hangs around the island and sexually harasses Britt Ekland.) Maud Adams is beautiful, and one of the best in the surprisingly long list of doomed-Bond-beauties; her death packs a surprising emotional wallop and Britt Ekland never seems like a good enough substitute (killing a love interest too late in a Bond film is always fraught with danger eg You Only Live Twice). We get extra Bernard Miles in this one (his eyes seem bloodshot in one scene) and some intriguing Moneypenny-Bond banter when she snaps at him at the beginning.
There is also much pleasing location work - Macau, Thailand, Hong Kong. Scaramanga's island lair is very beautiful (I didn't mind it being underpopulated), there are several good looking girls, an impressive car jump stunt (though hampered by a silly slide whistle sound effect that accompanies it), some interesting gimmick bits (a car that turns into a plane, a cigarette lighter that turns into a gun), and a couple of scenes I found genuinely compelling: visiting the gun manufacturer in Macau, the death of Maud Adams, Bond and Scaramanga at lunch and on the beach.
Now for the bad stuff: I think it was a mistake to bring in Marc Lawrence so soon after him being in Diamonds Are Forever; Guy Hamilton's handling feels lethargic and tired most of the time; the film is needlessly overlong; the stuff about the Solex feels tacked on and not thought out; the final shoot out between Bond and Scaramanga has some good moments but feels undercooked and too indebted to Lady from Shanghai (this needed to be a classic encounter along the lines of the train fight with Red Grant); Clifton James' unfunny redneck sheriff is agonisingly awful and should never have been brought back; I loathed the poorly integrated kung fu sequence and the two fighting expert girls (every Bond film has villains delay killing him but bundling him off to a kung fu school...?); the title song is crap (loud and stupid); and Britt Ekland's heroine, while very hot, is too ditzy and stupid... it's like a retread of Jill St John's Tiffany Case, having her walk around in a bikini and knock things over.
The case of Ekland is typical of the film. They could have done something really interesting with the character she plays - Mary Goodnight, James Bond's secretary... I mean, what would a person like that be like? What history does she have with him? But they muff it. It's also annoying they dropped the best bit about the novel: the opening sequence where a brainwashed Bond tries to kill M. (NB This was used in a later Bond film.) Still, watching it again after many years absence, I was surprised how often I got into it.
The frustrating thing is like Diamonds Are Forever there is a good movie inside here, wanting to get out, and we get glimpses of it. The relationship between government assassin Bond and assassin-for-hire Scaramanga was a strong one - men with much in common - and strong basis for drama. The filmmakers helped things by casting Christopher Lee in the role of Scaramanga - good looking, charismatic, believably ruthless... and also a clear contemporary of Roger Moore's. Indeed the characterisation of Scaramanga is better in the film in the novel, where he was more a two bit gangster; here he has more humanity and ambition.
It was a shame though they lost the section in the novel where Bond went undercover as Scaramanga's helper - this could have seen some interesting scenes between the two along the lines of Bond and Robert Davi in Licence to Kill. However they went with the assassin knowing Bond's identity from the get-go (I think to set up the use of the Bond mannequin which is how he ultimately beats Scaramanga.. still, it's a shame since it could have given their relationship more progression).
Some other positive things about the movie: Herve Villechaize's Nick Nack is one of the best villain henchman's ever. (Scaramanga also has a third - some random black guy who hangs around the island and sexually harasses Britt Ekland.) Maud Adams is beautiful, and one of the best in the surprisingly long list of doomed-Bond-beauties; her death packs a surprising emotional wallop and Britt Ekland never seems like a good enough substitute (killing a love interest too late in a Bond film is always fraught with danger eg You Only Live Twice). We get extra Bernard Miles in this one (his eyes seem bloodshot in one scene) and some intriguing Moneypenny-Bond banter when she snaps at him at the beginning.
There is also much pleasing location work - Macau, Thailand, Hong Kong. Scaramanga's island lair is very beautiful (I didn't mind it being underpopulated), there are several good looking girls, an impressive car jump stunt (though hampered by a silly slide whistle sound effect that accompanies it), some interesting gimmick bits (a car that turns into a plane, a cigarette lighter that turns into a gun), and a couple of scenes I found genuinely compelling: visiting the gun manufacturer in Macau, the death of Maud Adams, Bond and Scaramanga at lunch and on the beach.
Now for the bad stuff: I think it was a mistake to bring in Marc Lawrence so soon after him being in Diamonds Are Forever; Guy Hamilton's handling feels lethargic and tired most of the time; the film is needlessly overlong; the stuff about the Solex feels tacked on and not thought out; the final shoot out between Bond and Scaramanga has some good moments but feels undercooked and too indebted to Lady from Shanghai (this needed to be a classic encounter along the lines of the train fight with Red Grant); Clifton James' unfunny redneck sheriff is agonisingly awful and should never have been brought back; I loathed the poorly integrated kung fu sequence and the two fighting expert girls (every Bond film has villains delay killing him but bundling him off to a kung fu school...?); the title song is crap (loud and stupid); and Britt Ekland's heroine, while very hot, is too ditzy and stupid... it's like a retread of Jill St John's Tiffany Case, having her walk around in a bikini and knock things over.
The case of Ekland is typical of the film. They could have done something really interesting with the character she plays - Mary Goodnight, James Bond's secretary... I mean, what would a person like that be like? What history does she have with him? But they muff it. It's also annoying they dropped the best bit about the novel: the opening sequence where a brainwashed Bond tries to kill M. (NB This was used in a later Bond film.) Still, watching it again after many years absence, I was surprised how often I got into it.
Thursday, October 03, 2013
Movie review - Bond#7 - "Diamonds Are Forever" (1971) **
The film industry recession of the late 60s and relative disappointment of On Her Majesty's Secret Service shook the faith of United Artists, who offered Sean Connery the keys to the bank if he'd return to the role of James Bond. It worked, and the movie was a hit - which doesn't change the fact it's not that good, and Connery gives his weakest performance as Bond to date.
It had only been a few years but Connery looked a lot older and heavier with his least convincing toupee; he lacks sophistication and lumbers around like an aging football player gone slightly to seed. He also looks not very happy to be there.
It's a pity because I was looking for some emotional stuff from Bond in the wake of his wife's death in the previous film; they could have borrowed from the opening chapter of the book You Only Live Twice and have a boozing Bond, shattered and on the verge of collapse. But instead there's a mostly unmemorable pre-credit sequence where Bond tracks down Blofeld, then kills him in an unexciting fight scene.
I say "mostly unmemorable" because there are some good gimmicks and bits in it - someone saying "hit me" before being hit, and a woman being strangled in her bikini. And to be fair Diamonds Are Forever has a few good bits - funny lines, little gimmicky moments like the fake fingerprints. But as a narrative whole it's a failure.
The story isn't much - Bond follows a diamond smuggling trail from Amsterdam to Las Vegas, which involves him going undercover as a smuggler. Undercover stories almost always work but the script throws away opportunities wholesale - there's no real stakes (emotional or life and death) if Tiffany Case realises Bond was a liar, and Bond always has this massive support crew nearby to help him out.
No doubt worried about the low key drama that was unfolding, the screenwriters then throw in a third act plot about the diamonds being used by Blofeld to create a ray gun which feels uncooked and stupid, plus a twist with Blofeld pretending to be a reclusive billionaire, which is actually a great idea, but really badly done.
So much of this is stupid - instead of killing Bond, Blofeld arranges for him to be taken out to the desert alive to be left for dead (I recognise the baddies not killing Bond was a regular feature of the series but this movie pushes it to ridiculous proportions Blofeld kidnaps Tiffany Case for absolutely no good reason; Bofeld lets Bond come on board the oil rig and doesn't kill him at the end; Bond goes to Whyte's house on his own for no good reason when Felix Leiter is there as well.
I am admittedly biased here because I don't like my Bond films to be overly American and this is the most American Bond yet. The old stylish 60s look is gone, with too many ugly shirts and cars, the two girls Bond beds are American (and noisily so too), the character actors are over familiar American gangster types, Vegas in the day looks too tacky, there's the least memorable Felix Leiter yet. And I couldn't help feeling Blofeld didn't belong in America.
Jill St John is pretty and spunky, has a good character name, looks good in a bikini and wrapped in that white fur, but lacks spark, bravery and a sense of danger/death; also she is far too dim, especially her shenanigans at the end with the tape. It's a shame they couldn't have kept some of the man-hating, wounded-bird aspect to Tiffany's character from the novel - it would have given her somewhere to go dramatically and been more interesting than the mercenary, wise-cracking ditz here... but clearly by the way the filmmakers avoided Bond having any trauma in the fall out from his wife's death they didn't want to create a Bond film with any emotional depth. It's a real shame because the direct follow up to On Her Majesty's Secret Service should have had some depth.
Plenty O'Toole has spectacular cleavage, a funny stunt fall into a pool and a tragic end that doesn't make too much sense if you think about and she's too jokey for us to care much what happens to her. But at least she's better than Jimmy Dean's Willard Whyte, who is appalling - I can't believe the filmmakers miscast so badly; he's meant to be this recluse a la Howard Hughes, which could have been a marvellous creepy, intriguing character but and instead they have this jokey well adjusted Texan who always seems to be on the toilet. Not for one moment do you believe he is a reclusive billionaire; a hick moronic Texas oilman lately but not some mogul. To make things worse he takes part in the helicopter attack on the oil rig at the end - get stuffed! He is not Draco. In the pantheon of "Bond allies" in the series, Dean's Willard Whyte would rank right down the bottom.
The moon buggy chase and following car chase through Vegas is dull as is the final battle on an oil rig (oil rigs are never as exciting as I think they'll be - they look so great but they never seem to result in any decent action ssequences). I enjoyed the circus and funeral parlour scenes and there's a decent fight in an elevator between Bond and Peter Franks (an attempt to reprise the Red Grant fight on the train in From Russia with Love) - but it might have meant more had we gotten to know the character of Peter Franks first.
Charles Gray is an absolutely dreadful Blofeld; not only is he a whimp he seems bored most of the time, and monumentally uninterested in his own plan. Donald Pleasance's Blofeld at least had ambition and scope, Telly Savalas' was human and genuinely tough - Grey is just dull. There is absolutely no tension between him and Bond over Tracey's death from the previous film, which would have given this a massive lift; Blofeld is a moron, a pushover and an all-round unworthy opponent. It's a disgraceful treatment of one of the great Bond villains.
Okay some good things: I liked multiple Blofelds, Bambi and Thumper are entertaining henchwomen, Bruce Glover and Putter Smith are fun as the two gay killers. Shirley Bassey sings a first rate theme song and fans will enjoy Shane Rimmer popping up as one of Whyte's assistants. But I was surprised how awful this was. Dull, unexotic, lacking any sort of logic.
It had only been a few years but Connery looked a lot older and heavier with his least convincing toupee; he lacks sophistication and lumbers around like an aging football player gone slightly to seed. He also looks not very happy to be there.
It's a pity because I was looking for some emotional stuff from Bond in the wake of his wife's death in the previous film; they could have borrowed from the opening chapter of the book You Only Live Twice and have a boozing Bond, shattered and on the verge of collapse. But instead there's a mostly unmemorable pre-credit sequence where Bond tracks down Blofeld, then kills him in an unexciting fight scene.
I say "mostly unmemorable" because there are some good gimmicks and bits in it - someone saying "hit me" before being hit, and a woman being strangled in her bikini. And to be fair Diamonds Are Forever has a few good bits - funny lines, little gimmicky moments like the fake fingerprints. But as a narrative whole it's a failure.
The story isn't much - Bond follows a diamond smuggling trail from Amsterdam to Las Vegas, which involves him going undercover as a smuggler. Undercover stories almost always work but the script throws away opportunities wholesale - there's no real stakes (emotional or life and death) if Tiffany Case realises Bond was a liar, and Bond always has this massive support crew nearby to help him out.
No doubt worried about the low key drama that was unfolding, the screenwriters then throw in a third act plot about the diamonds being used by Blofeld to create a ray gun which feels uncooked and stupid, plus a twist with Blofeld pretending to be a reclusive billionaire, which is actually a great idea, but really badly done.
So much of this is stupid - instead of killing Bond, Blofeld arranges for him to be taken out to the desert alive to be left for dead (I recognise the baddies not killing Bond was a regular feature of the series but this movie pushes it to ridiculous proportions Blofeld kidnaps Tiffany Case for absolutely no good reason; Bofeld lets Bond come on board the oil rig and doesn't kill him at the end; Bond goes to Whyte's house on his own for no good reason when Felix Leiter is there as well.
I am admittedly biased here because I don't like my Bond films to be overly American and this is the most American Bond yet. The old stylish 60s look is gone, with too many ugly shirts and cars, the two girls Bond beds are American (and noisily so too), the character actors are over familiar American gangster types, Vegas in the day looks too tacky, there's the least memorable Felix Leiter yet. And I couldn't help feeling Blofeld didn't belong in America.
Jill St John is pretty and spunky, has a good character name, looks good in a bikini and wrapped in that white fur, but lacks spark, bravery and a sense of danger/death; also she is far too dim, especially her shenanigans at the end with the tape. It's a shame they couldn't have kept some of the man-hating, wounded-bird aspect to Tiffany's character from the novel - it would have given her somewhere to go dramatically and been more interesting than the mercenary, wise-cracking ditz here... but clearly by the way the filmmakers avoided Bond having any trauma in the fall out from his wife's death they didn't want to create a Bond film with any emotional depth. It's a real shame because the direct follow up to On Her Majesty's Secret Service should have had some depth.
Plenty O'Toole has spectacular cleavage, a funny stunt fall into a pool and a tragic end that doesn't make too much sense if you think about and she's too jokey for us to care much what happens to her. But at least she's better than Jimmy Dean's Willard Whyte, who is appalling - I can't believe the filmmakers miscast so badly; he's meant to be this recluse a la Howard Hughes, which could have been a marvellous creepy, intriguing character but and instead they have this jokey well adjusted Texan who always seems to be on the toilet. Not for one moment do you believe he is a reclusive billionaire; a hick moronic Texas oilman lately but not some mogul. To make things worse he takes part in the helicopter attack on the oil rig at the end - get stuffed! He is not Draco. In the pantheon of "Bond allies" in the series, Dean's Willard Whyte would rank right down the bottom.
The moon buggy chase and following car chase through Vegas is dull as is the final battle on an oil rig (oil rigs are never as exciting as I think they'll be - they look so great but they never seem to result in any decent action ssequences). I enjoyed the circus and funeral parlour scenes and there's a decent fight in an elevator between Bond and Peter Franks (an attempt to reprise the Red Grant fight on the train in From Russia with Love) - but it might have meant more had we gotten to know the character of Peter Franks first.
Charles Gray is an absolutely dreadful Blofeld; not only is he a whimp he seems bored most of the time, and monumentally uninterested in his own plan. Donald Pleasance's Blofeld at least had ambition and scope, Telly Savalas' was human and genuinely tough - Grey is just dull. There is absolutely no tension between him and Bond over Tracey's death from the previous film, which would have given this a massive lift; Blofeld is a moron, a pushover and an all-round unworthy opponent. It's a disgraceful treatment of one of the great Bond villains.
Okay some good things: I liked multiple Blofelds, Bambi and Thumper are entertaining henchwomen, Bruce Glover and Putter Smith are fun as the two gay killers. Shirley Bassey sings a first rate theme song and fans will enjoy Shane Rimmer popping up as one of Whyte's assistants. But I was surprised how awful this was. Dull, unexotic, lacking any sort of logic.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Movie review - "Metropolis" (1927) ***
Fascinating for students of cinema history, religious allegory and set design... as a piece of drama it is less effective, with histrionic acting, a needlessly confusing plot, an overlong running time and general air of dopeyness. I did enjoy the finale when the workers rose up and went nuts but this is no commie treatsie - at the end the workers and management are encouraged to get along for the good of all.
Brigitte Helm is unsurprisingly bland as the good girl, kind of like the St Peter of Metropolis, tending the sick and leading people in prayer. She's lusted after - sorry, loved - by the bosses son, who goes undercover to find out more. Just thinking about it the plot of this is reminiscent of Quo Vadis? with the poor as Christians and the rich as Roman nobility - only this one does throw in a mad scientist who builds a robot for the boss, while secretly planning to double cross said boss. The robot is a slutty version of Helm and a lot more fun to watch.
There's a lot of intense acting, gnashing of brows, kidnappings, attempted rapes, Weimar Republic style decadence at a nightclub, athletics with pasty faced rich kids, masses and masses of poor (mostly kids), floods, rich men in tuxes drooling after trashy women, skanty outfits, rants about the Tower of Babel. Always something going on just not always involving.
Brigitte Helm is unsurprisingly bland as the good girl, kind of like the St Peter of Metropolis, tending the sick and leading people in prayer. She's lusted after - sorry, loved - by the bosses son, who goes undercover to find out more. Just thinking about it the plot of this is reminiscent of Quo Vadis? with the poor as Christians and the rich as Roman nobility - only this one does throw in a mad scientist who builds a robot for the boss, while secretly planning to double cross said boss. The robot is a slutty version of Helm and a lot more fun to watch.
There's a lot of intense acting, gnashing of brows, kidnappings, attempted rapes, Weimar Republic style decadence at a nightclub, athletics with pasty faced rich kids, masses and masses of poor (mostly kids), floods, rich men in tuxes drooling after trashy women, skanty outfits, rants about the Tower of Babel. Always something going on just not always involving.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Movie review - Bond#5 - "You Only Live Twice" (1967) ****
Its hard not to think of Austin Powers when watching this Bond film, and indeed this has a touch of the sillies about it - it pushes the stakes to the greatest degree yet, bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war, although the story really just follows the basic structure of Dr No: a mysterious force is messing with the US and Russian space program, playing them off against each other; Bond goes to poke around in an exotic part of the world, has some local help (including from a girl in the bikini), gets captured by the baddie who explains his plan before killing him, then Bond manages to escape and blow everything up. There's even stolen artworks lying around the baddie's lair as per Dr No and a finale where Bond and his girl make out in a boat when his friends interrupt.
This was the first Bond film to really discard the original book, although elements were kept. On one hand I'm sympathetic - Bond's official mission in the book is not much (trying to get the Japanese secret service to do some diplomatic stuff, then seeking to kill a person who is encouraging Japanese youth to kill themselves... big deal).
However there was a lot of terrific novel material which I'm surprised took the makers of the series so long to use: I know they couldn't have the whole Bond-recovering-from-his-wife's-death stuff (nervous breakdown, heavy drinking, etc) because we hadn't seen On Her Majesty's Secret Service yet, but why not seed this through Diamonds Are Forever? Also there was the mystery castle of death surrounded by killer plants, Blofeld as a samurai, the name Dr Shatterhand, having Dikko Henderson as an Aussie, giving Bond amnesia at the end and getting him to wind up living with Kissy Suzuki who wants to keep him for herself...
I can understand they were nervous of some of this - and the big volcano base is a pretty impressive substitute for the castle. Still, it could have really reinvigorated the formula. (NB And I'm surprised the later films haven't used the amnesiac device more... maybe they're worried about Bourne film comparisons.)
Back to the movie - it's a lot of fun, with plenty of action and spectacle. Production values are first rate, from the location shooting in Japan and Hong Kong (including a sumo match), to some typically superb sets: M shifts his office to a submarine in this one (M and Moneypenny get to wear whites), Tanaka has an underground train, Blofeld has the biggest villain's lair to date.
The character of Tiger Tanaka is one of the great Bond allies - a real kindred spirit to Bond, with his own private train, and country estate full of hot women to wash him and ninja training school. However I felt Tetsuro Tamba was okay in the part rather than exceptional; it's a real shame since he shares a lot of the hero duties with Bond.
Akiko Wakabayashi's Aki is an engaging Bond heroine - pretty, brave, smart, and sexy. Her death at the hands of an assassin two thirds of the way in is a real shock - the most emotionally charged scene easily - and it takes a while for the movie to recover; she and Bond have such a good relationship (she saves his life several times, is a good bedmate, and massages him too) that it feels cheap and wrong even for Bond that he's pleased to marry a hot babe five minutes later, and whingeing about not being able to sleep with said hot babe. It felt like Aki deserved a bit more respect, particularly since she died of poison meant for Bond.
Mie Hama's Kissy Suzuki initially struggles to make an impact in the wake of Aki. I think they may as well have kept Aki alive - you'd lose the shock of the death, but since Bond isn't really emotionally motivated by it there's not that much point. Or at least the could have killed her off earlier - two thirds of the way in is very late to knock off a love interest. However, as the film goes on Hama/Suzuki gradually makes an impression - its an interesting character to play, a small time village girl who is also a spy, Kissy Suzuki is a first-rate name, and Hama is very pretty, looking impressive in a bikini; she also gets points going to the volcano base with Bond in said bikini, swimming back to warn Tiger and avoiding helicopter gunfire (she's a lot more spunky and useful than, say, Domino in Thunderball) then coming back with Tiger's ninja army... still wearing a bikini!! It is a shame they didn't keep Kissy keeping an amnesiac Bond as her lover as per the book.
Donald Pleasance's Blofeld is rarely considered among the top Bond villains - too anti climatic after all that build up, too small, and I have to say I agree. He's not that great, certainly not as good as Telly Savalas' Blofeld, but he's okay; in his defence, he's not helped by a script that requires Blofeld to not kill Bond for a ridiculously long time, and also to spell out some exposition about blowing up his ship with Bond right there. Still, he does have a cool piranha lake.
The henchmen are disappointingly second rate. Karin Dor's femme fetale is undercooked - she feels like a poor man's (woman's) Luciana Paluzzi, with her flaming red hair and habit of bedding Bond then trying to kill him... but she doesn't really do much (Paluzzi was a top assassin whereas Dor just seems to be a secretary), lacks presence, and tries to kill Bond in a really convoluted way (taking him up in the air in a plane then jumping out in a parachute leaving him there trapped... this whole scene probably could have been jettisoned.) Teru Shimada's Osato (what I consider the Guy Doleman-Count Lippe role) is vanilla - by the time Blofeld shoots him I'd forgotten he was in the movie - and Ronald Rich's Hans is a laughable imitation of Red Grant - he barely does a thing throughout the running time, and at the end when Bond fights him it's almost like an afterthought. (Both he and Dor do get points for being eaten by piranhas.)
The movie feels a bit sloppy in its construction of action sequences - the assassination of Henderson (why even have him in the movie?), that random fight on the docks, the silly sequence where Dor tries to kill Bond on a plane, Aki saves Bond twice by driving up in a car, Bond fakes his death then his nationality.
But on the positive side some of those sequences are superb: the helicopter fight, the assassination of Aki, and especially the climactic battle with the ninjas. And there are some very hot Japanese women,
that volcano set, one of the best credit sequences and music scores in the series, and Nancy Sinatra's theme song has always been a favourite. Oh and I like the way the Americans are depicted as being so unreasonable and desperate to start World War Three despite the reasonable protestations of the British - I wonder if this slight anti-Americanism was Roald Dahl's influence.
This was the first Bond film to really discard the original book, although elements were kept. On one hand I'm sympathetic - Bond's official mission in the book is not much (trying to get the Japanese secret service to do some diplomatic stuff, then seeking to kill a person who is encouraging Japanese youth to kill themselves... big deal).
However there was a lot of terrific novel material which I'm surprised took the makers of the series so long to use: I know they couldn't have the whole Bond-recovering-from-his-wife's-death stuff (nervous breakdown, heavy drinking, etc) because we hadn't seen On Her Majesty's Secret Service yet, but why not seed this through Diamonds Are Forever? Also there was the mystery castle of death surrounded by killer plants, Blofeld as a samurai, the name Dr Shatterhand, having Dikko Henderson as an Aussie, giving Bond amnesia at the end and getting him to wind up living with Kissy Suzuki who wants to keep him for herself...
I can understand they were nervous of some of this - and the big volcano base is a pretty impressive substitute for the castle. Still, it could have really reinvigorated the formula. (NB And I'm surprised the later films haven't used the amnesiac device more... maybe they're worried about Bourne film comparisons.)
Back to the movie - it's a lot of fun, with plenty of action and spectacle. Production values are first rate, from the location shooting in Japan and Hong Kong (including a sumo match), to some typically superb sets: M shifts his office to a submarine in this one (M and Moneypenny get to wear whites), Tanaka has an underground train, Blofeld has the biggest villain's lair to date.
The character of Tiger Tanaka is one of the great Bond allies - a real kindred spirit to Bond, with his own private train, and country estate full of hot women to wash him and ninja training school. However I felt Tetsuro Tamba was okay in the part rather than exceptional; it's a real shame since he shares a lot of the hero duties with Bond.
Akiko Wakabayashi's Aki is an engaging Bond heroine - pretty, brave, smart, and sexy. Her death at the hands of an assassin two thirds of the way in is a real shock - the most emotionally charged scene easily - and it takes a while for the movie to recover; she and Bond have such a good relationship (she saves his life several times, is a good bedmate, and massages him too) that it feels cheap and wrong even for Bond that he's pleased to marry a hot babe five minutes later, and whingeing about not being able to sleep with said hot babe. It felt like Aki deserved a bit more respect, particularly since she died of poison meant for Bond.
Mie Hama's Kissy Suzuki initially struggles to make an impact in the wake of Aki. I think they may as well have kept Aki alive - you'd lose the shock of the death, but since Bond isn't really emotionally motivated by it there's not that much point. Or at least the could have killed her off earlier - two thirds of the way in is very late to knock off a love interest. However, as the film goes on Hama/Suzuki gradually makes an impression - its an interesting character to play, a small time village girl who is also a spy, Kissy Suzuki is a first-rate name, and Hama is very pretty, looking impressive in a bikini; she also gets points going to the volcano base with Bond in said bikini, swimming back to warn Tiger and avoiding helicopter gunfire (she's a lot more spunky and useful than, say, Domino in Thunderball) then coming back with Tiger's ninja army... still wearing a bikini!! It is a shame they didn't keep Kissy keeping an amnesiac Bond as her lover as per the book.
Donald Pleasance's Blofeld is rarely considered among the top Bond villains - too anti climatic after all that build up, too small, and I have to say I agree. He's not that great, certainly not as good as Telly Savalas' Blofeld, but he's okay; in his defence, he's not helped by a script that requires Blofeld to not kill Bond for a ridiculously long time, and also to spell out some exposition about blowing up his ship with Bond right there. Still, he does have a cool piranha lake.
The henchmen are disappointingly second rate. Karin Dor's femme fetale is undercooked - she feels like a poor man's (woman's) Luciana Paluzzi, with her flaming red hair and habit of bedding Bond then trying to kill him... but she doesn't really do much (Paluzzi was a top assassin whereas Dor just seems to be a secretary), lacks presence, and tries to kill Bond in a really convoluted way (taking him up in the air in a plane then jumping out in a parachute leaving him there trapped... this whole scene probably could have been jettisoned.) Teru Shimada's Osato (what I consider the Guy Doleman-Count Lippe role) is vanilla - by the time Blofeld shoots him I'd forgotten he was in the movie - and Ronald Rich's Hans is a laughable imitation of Red Grant - he barely does a thing throughout the running time, and at the end when Bond fights him it's almost like an afterthought. (Both he and Dor do get points for being eaten by piranhas.)
The movie feels a bit sloppy in its construction of action sequences - the assassination of Henderson (why even have him in the movie?), that random fight on the docks, the silly sequence where Dor tries to kill Bond on a plane, Aki saves Bond twice by driving up in a car, Bond fakes his death then his nationality.
But on the positive side some of those sequences are superb: the helicopter fight, the assassination of Aki, and especially the climactic battle with the ninjas. And there are some very hot Japanese women,
that volcano set, one of the best credit sequences and music scores in the series, and Nancy Sinatra's theme song has always been a favourite. Oh and I like the way the Americans are depicted as being so unreasonable and desperate to start World War Three despite the reasonable protestations of the British - I wonder if this slight anti-Americanism was Roald Dahl's influence.
TV review - "Mad Men - Season 6" (2013) ***
This series benefits from Don Draper turning back into a prick and they've realised they can't really go anywhere that interesting with Megan. Betty is back, slimmer but no happier, the daughter threatens to turn interesting, Roger keeps putting out the one liners, there is a great new addition to the cast in an all smiling mystery man. Its 1968 by now - time to wrap it up soon.
Movie review - Bond#4 - "Thunderball" (1965) ****
My memory of this movie wasn't strong - I remembered too many underwater sequences, an overlong running time and a feeling that it was undeservedly popular off the back of Goldfinger's excellence - but it actually holds up very well. This is due in part to a very strong story - well, a very strong baddie plot anyway (regular Bond writer Richard Maibaum once said the key to Bond screenplays was figuring out the villain's caper).
SPECTRE are a highly impressive organisation here, with tentacles across the world, even if they don't have the best employee relations policy (Blofeld again kills several of his key unsuccessful employees, Largo knocks off a few as well too). They've put a lot of time and effort into their plan - getting a man to have surgery to impersonate an air force officer so they can steal a nuclear bomb and holding it for ransom. Indeed the only way Bond gets involved is via luck - he's recovering at a health resort where one of the baddies is having an operation. (I wonder if anyone's done fan fiction of Bond's adventures in Canada where he was supposed to go - I note how polite the head of the Canadian branch was about Bond not going there.)
The series was getting more extreme by now - well, it always was full on (Dr No was about knocking down rockets), but the stakes were getting bigger, the budgets more elaborate, the gags more frequent, Sean Connery's toupee less convincing.
This was also the first movie which felt like elements were being reheated - the precredit title sequence, British colony tropical island setting (Bahamas instead of Jamaica), an initial fake out where we're led to believe Felix Leiter might be a baddy, an ally who is killed, a black helper on the island (a surprisingly small role though).
Still, like I said, there's lots of good stuff going on. Adolfo Celi is a terrific antagonist - imposing with his eye patch, very hands on (he gets in there and leads the diving teams) and a pool full of sharks. Luciana Paluzzi is a spectacular villainess, all flowing red hair and sexiness, who'll sleep with Bond but not be converted to goodness by him (she gives Connery his two best moments - when she asks him to give her something to wear while in the bath, and when he says he didn't enjoy sleeping with her). I also enjoyed some of the second tier henchmen, like Guy Doleman's slimy Count Lippe and Phillip Locke's pure Vargas.
On the side of the goodies, Rik Van Nutter is another un-memorable Felix Leiter, but Claudine Auger is incredibly good looking and voluptuous as Domino (she is a more passive Bond heroine, rather like the one in From Russia with Love, not doing much non-sex-wise until killing a baddie at the end, but as in that one she's counterbalanced by a strong female villain. She and Bond have their first kiss/sex underwater which does seem a little strange.) I liked Martine Beswick too as the doomed Paula, Bond's assistant who kills herself with a cyanide pill while being tortured. There's Q, M and Moneypenny and a bunch of other agents at the beginning who are all given different jurisdictions (Bond is meant to go to Canada but manages to go to Nassau instead.)
The final underwater battle goes on too long, Bond's tight shorts are inadvertently amusing, its full of colour and movement.
SPECTRE are a highly impressive organisation here, with tentacles across the world, even if they don't have the best employee relations policy (Blofeld again kills several of his key unsuccessful employees, Largo knocks off a few as well too). They've put a lot of time and effort into their plan - getting a man to have surgery to impersonate an air force officer so they can steal a nuclear bomb and holding it for ransom. Indeed the only way Bond gets involved is via luck - he's recovering at a health resort where one of the baddies is having an operation. (I wonder if anyone's done fan fiction of Bond's adventures in Canada where he was supposed to go - I note how polite the head of the Canadian branch was about Bond not going there.)
The series was getting more extreme by now - well, it always was full on (Dr No was about knocking down rockets), but the stakes were getting bigger, the budgets more elaborate, the gags more frequent, Sean Connery's toupee less convincing.
This was also the first movie which felt like elements were being reheated - the precredit title sequence, British colony tropical island setting (Bahamas instead of Jamaica), an initial fake out where we're led to believe Felix Leiter might be a baddy, an ally who is killed, a black helper on the island (a surprisingly small role though).
Still, like I said, there's lots of good stuff going on. Adolfo Celi is a terrific antagonist - imposing with his eye patch, very hands on (he gets in there and leads the diving teams) and a pool full of sharks. Luciana Paluzzi is a spectacular villainess, all flowing red hair and sexiness, who'll sleep with Bond but not be converted to goodness by him (she gives Connery his two best moments - when she asks him to give her something to wear while in the bath, and when he says he didn't enjoy sleeping with her). I also enjoyed some of the second tier henchmen, like Guy Doleman's slimy Count Lippe and Phillip Locke's pure Vargas.
On the side of the goodies, Rik Van Nutter is another un-memorable Felix Leiter, but Claudine Auger is incredibly good looking and voluptuous as Domino (she is a more passive Bond heroine, rather like the one in From Russia with Love, not doing much non-sex-wise until killing a baddie at the end, but as in that one she's counterbalanced by a strong female villain. She and Bond have their first kiss/sex underwater which does seem a little strange.) I liked Martine Beswick too as the doomed Paula, Bond's assistant who kills herself with a cyanide pill while being tortured. There's Q, M and Moneypenny and a bunch of other agents at the beginning who are all given different jurisdictions (Bond is meant to go to Canada but manages to go to Nassau instead.)
The final underwater battle goes on too long, Bond's tight shorts are inadvertently amusing, its full of colour and movement.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Movie review - Bond#3 - "Goldfinger" (1964) *****
The basic elements of Bond were all there from Dr No (Maurice Binder credits, theme music, super villains, sidekicks, so on) and From Russia with Love added more (pre credit sequence, henchmen, Q) but this was the one that really set them in stone. Indeed, in future Bonds it seemed Goldfinger was the one that the filmmakers would refer back to - a pre credit sequence with Bond doing something, a villain with dreams of global world domination, martini shaken not stirred; indeed the structure of the movie would often be copied in later Bonds.
It has one of the best gadgets (Aston Martin with ejector seat), best henchmen (Odd job, with his killer hat and karate chop), best girl who is killed (Shirley Eaton - very winning and sexy), best villain plan (contaminate the world's gold supply at Fort Knox), best Bond girl name (Pussy Galore) and some incredible visual images: naked Eaton painted all gold, Bond strapped to a table with a laser aimed at his crotch, Pussy Galore in black leather and her flying troupe, Odd Job lopping the head off a statue, the gold at Fort Knox.
It's also got one of the most complex and imposing villains in Gert Frobe's Goldfinger - at first he's introduced as a buffoon, sunburned in a silly hat, cheating at cards... but then he has Shirley Eaton killed. He's an idiot again at golf but then he gets Odd Job to take out a statue. And he's got that great plan.
I'm never a fan of American Bond girls and Honor Blackman's accent would grate but she's actually a lot of fun (Blackman was British of course playing American). She's helped by a great introduction - out of focus as Bond regains consciousness, hearing her name and going "I must be dreaming". And she's also the smartest and most spirited Bond heroine to date - a pilot, very smart, adapt at judo, no naive pussycat.
Cec Linder is a particularly unmemorable Felix Leiter even by the low standards of that role; Tania Mallett is bland as Jill Masterton. The American gangsters aren't that great - I kept wishing there was more of an international rogues' gallery (is there really any point to have them in the movie other than to show Goldfinger as a badass which is already established? There's around ten minutes of them dedicated to him giving all this exposition to the gangsters who are just killed).
The script is full of clever "bits" - Bond seeing his reflection in the eyes of a girl he's kissing, Bond escaping from a gaol cell by outwitting his gaoler, death via gold paint, how he kills Odd Job. The final action sequence with Goldfinger on the plane and Pussy Galore conveniently there always felt tacked on. Still, a deserved classic. Wonderful theme song.
It has one of the best gadgets (Aston Martin with ejector seat), best henchmen (Odd job, with his killer hat and karate chop), best girl who is killed (Shirley Eaton - very winning and sexy), best villain plan (contaminate the world's gold supply at Fort Knox), best Bond girl name (Pussy Galore) and some incredible visual images: naked Eaton painted all gold, Bond strapped to a table with a laser aimed at his crotch, Pussy Galore in black leather and her flying troupe, Odd Job lopping the head off a statue, the gold at Fort Knox.
It's also got one of the most complex and imposing villains in Gert Frobe's Goldfinger - at first he's introduced as a buffoon, sunburned in a silly hat, cheating at cards... but then he has Shirley Eaton killed. He's an idiot again at golf but then he gets Odd Job to take out a statue. And he's got that great plan.
I'm never a fan of American Bond girls and Honor Blackman's accent would grate but she's actually a lot of fun (Blackman was British of course playing American). She's helped by a great introduction - out of focus as Bond regains consciousness, hearing her name and going "I must be dreaming". And she's also the smartest and most spirited Bond heroine to date - a pilot, very smart, adapt at judo, no naive pussycat.
Cec Linder is a particularly unmemorable Felix Leiter even by the low standards of that role; Tania Mallett is bland as Jill Masterton. The American gangsters aren't that great - I kept wishing there was more of an international rogues' gallery (is there really any point to have them in the movie other than to show Goldfinger as a badass which is already established? There's around ten minutes of them dedicated to him giving all this exposition to the gangsters who are just killed).
The script is full of clever "bits" - Bond seeing his reflection in the eyes of a girl he's kissing, Bond escaping from a gaol cell by outwitting his gaoler, death via gold paint, how he kills Odd Job. The final action sequence with Goldfinger on the plane and Pussy Galore conveniently there always felt tacked on. Still, a deserved classic. Wonderful theme song.
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