One of the things I like about Jason Statham is he's always trying to push himself - taking a small part in Collateral, for instance, so he can work with Michael Mann; attempting comedy in Spy; trying to revive Westlake's "Parker" series. Here he has turned producer and optioned an old William Goldman script, based on his novel Edged Weapons, also known as Heat - the title under which it was filmed in 1986. The movie wasn't particularly good, with a troublesome shoot, and I always thought it was a shame a novel I enjoyed a lot didn't get better treatment.
But you know something? After watching this faithful adaptation - which from my (brief) research seems to have loyally shot Goldman's old 1980s script, with a few tweaks - I'm not sure it was that great, at least not as directed by Simon West. It's a character piece with action films, and really needed to set up Las Vegas as this major character in the piece. West's handling feels far too glossy and schmick - it's like a TV commercial Vegas. I think the really ideal director would've been someone like Robert Altman, who can really get the gambling atmosphere (and who incidentally was originally attached to the 1986 Heat).
Maybe it also needed, say, some voice over to get into the lead character's head more. Great sequences in the book - Nick taking on some hoods (a second by second description) and Nick's gambling run, aren't as effective- on film. The action scenes are very well done but tend to be over the top - there are only three of them, but they involve being Stathan so super heroic that it doesn't quite mix with the more down to earth aspects of the rest of the film.
So the piece doesn't quite work - not enough character to be a drama, not enough action to be a bang bang pic. There are some great cameos: Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis, Anne Heche. Statham isn't bad. I wish he'd gone the whole hog and gotten a drama director to do it.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Movie review - "South Sea Woman" (1953) **1/2
The opening credits indicate this is going to be a tropical island film movie, making you annoyed it's not in colour, but actually it's more a south seas adventure movie in the vein of say China Seas or Across the Pacific - although I still wanted it to be in colour. And have a better cast than it did, and was written better.
This has the ingredients for something really fun - Chuck Connors deserts the Marines in 1941 Shanghai in order to marry lounge singer Virginia Mayo, along with best mate Burt Lancaster. They squabble and have a series of adventures, including winding up on a Chinese junk (cue some racist jokes), on a Vichy occupied island (the best part of the film), then taking on a Japanese destroyer around the time of the Battle of Guadacanal.
It's a silly over the top movie, a buddy comedy where the two guys are in love with each other as much as the dame. I think it was a mistake to structure it in flashback at a court martial - this slowed down the action, made things less fun, and didn't always make sense. Maybe it was also a mistake to set it during World War Two and have such cartoonish action - you got away with that in the early days of the war, it didn't feel right in 1953 somehow.
Lancaster is a lot of fun in his grinning teeth swashbuckling mode - though you never get the impression he's that into Mayo. Chuck Connors doesn't have his skill or charisma but he tries. Virgina Mayo is pretty bad as the girl - she lacks the necessary fire that someone like say Yvonne de Carlo would have brought to the part.
Structure wise the attack on the Japanese boat felt like an adventure too far. I think they would have been better off keeping things on the island - they could have had the Japanese arrive there.
Still, it has high spirits, and when we aren't in the court martial scenes, director Arthur Lubin keeps things running at a decent pace.
This has the ingredients for something really fun - Chuck Connors deserts the Marines in 1941 Shanghai in order to marry lounge singer Virginia Mayo, along with best mate Burt Lancaster. They squabble and have a series of adventures, including winding up on a Chinese junk (cue some racist jokes), on a Vichy occupied island (the best part of the film), then taking on a Japanese destroyer around the time of the Battle of Guadacanal.
It's a silly over the top movie, a buddy comedy where the two guys are in love with each other as much as the dame. I think it was a mistake to structure it in flashback at a court martial - this slowed down the action, made things less fun, and didn't always make sense. Maybe it was also a mistake to set it during World War Two and have such cartoonish action - you got away with that in the early days of the war, it didn't feel right in 1953 somehow.
Lancaster is a lot of fun in his grinning teeth swashbuckling mode - though you never get the impression he's that into Mayo. Chuck Connors doesn't have his skill or charisma but he tries. Virgina Mayo is pretty bad as the girl - she lacks the necessary fire that someone like say Yvonne de Carlo would have brought to the part.
Structure wise the attack on the Japanese boat felt like an adventure too far. I think they would have been better off keeping things on the island - they could have had the Japanese arrive there.
Still, it has high spirits, and when we aren't in the court martial scenes, director Arthur Lubin keeps things running at a decent pace.
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Movie review - "Death Warrant" (1990) **
The first screenplay credit from David Goyer, who became such a major figure in the 2000s. It's an entirely respectable story, a combination of the Jean Claude Van Damme, prison and serial killer genres - he plays a Canadian policeman who goes undercover in a prison to find the person who killed his partner and uncovers an organ donor racket.
It's full of familiar tropes - a pretend wife (Cynthia Gibb) he falls for, a conspiracy involving his boss, dodgy guards, nerdy computer hacker - but those tropes are familiar because they work and they do here. More worrying is that the film is a little on the dull side. There's not much action and it's not that great. The film keeps teasing things without delivering - a hot conjugal visit between Van Damme and Gibb (hinted at but not really exploited, at least not in the version I saw), a riot, a massive brawl. The serial killer was super human in most of his scenes except at the end (was he supposed to be a ghost? An alien?)
The film falls in between stools - there's too much intelligence and sensibility to be a gloriously crap Van Damme action movie, but it's not good enough to be an actual solidly entertaining flick. Robert Guillaume adds strong support and I've always liked Cynthia Gibb and wish more time had been devoted to her relationship with Van Damme.
It's full of familiar tropes - a pretend wife (Cynthia Gibb) he falls for, a conspiracy involving his boss, dodgy guards, nerdy computer hacker - but those tropes are familiar because they work and they do here. More worrying is that the film is a little on the dull side. There's not much action and it's not that great. The film keeps teasing things without delivering - a hot conjugal visit between Van Damme and Gibb (hinted at but not really exploited, at least not in the version I saw), a riot, a massive brawl. The serial killer was super human in most of his scenes except at the end (was he supposed to be a ghost? An alien?)
The film falls in between stools - there's too much intelligence and sensibility to be a gloriously crap Van Damme action movie, but it's not good enough to be an actual solidly entertaining flick. Robert Guillaume adds strong support and I've always liked Cynthia Gibb and wish more time had been devoted to her relationship with Van Damme.
Book review - "Breakfast at Tiffany's: The Official 50th Anniversary Companion" by Sarah Gristwood (2011)
I often shy away from coffee table books about movies and worried this one would simply be an excuse for lots of pictures of Audrey Hepburn looking stylish, and to be sure there are plenty of those but Gristwood has also done her scholarship on other areas: she looks at the novella, the script, the producers, the production, etc. Its a solid, thorough look at the movie.
I was particularly interested in the stuff about the screenplay. Aussie expat Sumner Locke Elliot was hired to do the first treatment, to save money as much as anything, but the producers didn't like his work so hired George Axelrod who distorted things but made it work as a rom com - playing down Holly's profession for censorship reasons but keeping things sexy by making the writer a kept man, and thus also providing a reason for the two leads to be kept apart.
Other behind the scenes stories aren't so surprising, but I still enjoyed reading about them: Hepburn was a dear (though in a controlling relationship with Mel Ferrer who would "pillow talk direct"), George Peppard was a pain, the supporting cast were great, Blake Edwards delighted in doing the party scene especially, the role Huckleberry Finn played in writing the lyrics. I would have liked to have read more about the disastrous musical version but that's probably being a little unfair.
I was particularly interested in the stuff about the screenplay. Aussie expat Sumner Locke Elliot was hired to do the first treatment, to save money as much as anything, but the producers didn't like his work so hired George Axelrod who distorted things but made it work as a rom com - playing down Holly's profession for censorship reasons but keeping things sexy by making the writer a kept man, and thus also providing a reason for the two leads to be kept apart.
Other behind the scenes stories aren't so surprising, but I still enjoyed reading about them: Hepburn was a dear (though in a controlling relationship with Mel Ferrer who would "pillow talk direct"), George Peppard was a pain, the supporting cast were great, Blake Edwards delighted in doing the party scene especially, the role Huckleberry Finn played in writing the lyrics. I would have liked to have read more about the disastrous musical version but that's probably being a little unfair.
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Movie review - "A Perfect World" (1993) ***1/2
No one seems to talk much about this movie any more but at the time it was a big deal - Kevin Costner at his peak teaming up with Clint Eastwood at his 90s peak. It's an old Eastwood favourite, the road movie, being about two crims who bust out of prison and take a small boy hostage. One of the crims is another Eastwood favourite, the black hat psycho, who enables other crim Costner to look noble by comparison, especially by killing him.
The heart of the movie is the relationship between Costner and the boy and it's very well done. It movie does amble at over two hours; the bits with Eastwood and Laura Dern in particular feel like padding. But it is not afraid to tackle a serious theme - the effect of treating kids badly - and gives the appropriate ending.
Bradley Whitford pops up as another black hat, a smarmy, sexually harrassing, gung ho FBI sharpshooter, whose purpose is to make Eastwood seem more noble. Loving recreation of 1960s Texas. It was a throw back in many ways to boy-worshipping-outlaw Westerns like Shane and Hondo.
The heart of the movie is the relationship between Costner and the boy and it's very well done. It movie does amble at over two hours; the bits with Eastwood and Laura Dern in particular feel like padding. But it is not afraid to tackle a serious theme - the effect of treating kids badly - and gives the appropriate ending.
Bradley Whitford pops up as another black hat, a smarmy, sexually harrassing, gung ho FBI sharpshooter, whose purpose is to make Eastwood seem more noble. Loving recreation of 1960s Texas. It was a throw back in many ways to boy-worshipping-outlaw Westerns like Shane and Hondo.
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Book review - "The Many Lives of Cy Endfield Film Noir, the Blacklist, and Zulu" by Brian Neve (2015)
How good a filmmaker was Cy Endfield? He made one movie that has passionate devotees - Zulu - but the others are far, far less well known. After the triumph of Zulu his career bewilderingly failed to gain momentum. I was familiar with glimpses - the mysterious Sands of the Kalahari, being booted off De Sade, the beyond-weird Universal Soldier - but this superb biography answers all those questions and more.
Endfield was from Scranton Pennsylvania; like so many directors of his era, he was the son of immigrants, and was whip smart, getting into Yale. He earned contacts in the progressive theatre scene of the 1930s, knowing Orson Welles and Paul Gallico, and joining the Communist Party. He eventually found his way to Hollywood and whinged/nagged/networked his way into filmmaking jobs, doing a stint for Mercury at RKO, then making a short for MGM, Inflation. This was extremely highly regarded - but also so powerful it was considered anti-capitalist and found it hard to get distribution. It was to be the first in a series of career blows that would frustrate Endfield.
He was a hard worker and wrote as well as directed so managed to find work - radio dramas (including "The Argyle Secrets" for Suspense which I review elsewhere on this blog), then making comedies at Monogram, and working his way up to some highly regarded film noirs, notably The Sound and Fury. It seemed Endfield's career was back on track then he was hit with another blow - being blacklisted.
Endfield fled to England. He eventually found work again in TV and then movies, writing and directing, forming a notable collaboration with actor-producer Stanley Baker: A Child in the House, Hell Drivers, Jet Storm, then of course Zulu. This was a big hit and really should have put Endfield back in the A league again. But his follow up, Sands of the Kalahari, flopped and Endfield could never get his groove back - by this stage he was too cranky, too old, probably too tired after so many knock backs. He was booted off De Sade, Universal Soldier was a mess, was unable to get financing for other projects; he worked increasingly in other areas - computers, tried writing a play (the man was ferociously intelligent); he had a life long interest in magic and was very serious about it. Critics rediscovered him but it was probably too little too late for his sense of self-respect.
For all his many admirable qualities Endfield wasn't always an easy person to like - he was prickly, temperamental, sulky; he bailed on a first marriage and child (the blacklist was a big part of this, in his defense); seemed reluctant to help out with the war effort. But he had talent, intelligence and made some entertaining films. Its a shame his early 50s film noirs aren't better known, for instance. He was a fascinating character who deserved a good biography, and he got one.
Endfield was from Scranton Pennsylvania; like so many directors of his era, he was the son of immigrants, and was whip smart, getting into Yale. He earned contacts in the progressive theatre scene of the 1930s, knowing Orson Welles and Paul Gallico, and joining the Communist Party. He eventually found his way to Hollywood and whinged/nagged/networked his way into filmmaking jobs, doing a stint for Mercury at RKO, then making a short for MGM, Inflation. This was extremely highly regarded - but also so powerful it was considered anti-capitalist and found it hard to get distribution. It was to be the first in a series of career blows that would frustrate Endfield.
He was a hard worker and wrote as well as directed so managed to find work - radio dramas (including "The Argyle Secrets" for Suspense which I review elsewhere on this blog), then making comedies at Monogram, and working his way up to some highly regarded film noirs, notably The Sound and Fury. It seemed Endfield's career was back on track then he was hit with another blow - being blacklisted.
Endfield fled to England. He eventually found work again in TV and then movies, writing and directing, forming a notable collaboration with actor-producer Stanley Baker: A Child in the House, Hell Drivers, Jet Storm, then of course Zulu. This was a big hit and really should have put Endfield back in the A league again. But his follow up, Sands of the Kalahari, flopped and Endfield could never get his groove back - by this stage he was too cranky, too old, probably too tired after so many knock backs. He was booted off De Sade, Universal Soldier was a mess, was unable to get financing for other projects; he worked increasingly in other areas - computers, tried writing a play (the man was ferociously intelligent); he had a life long interest in magic and was very serious about it. Critics rediscovered him but it was probably too little too late for his sense of self-respect.
For all his many admirable qualities Endfield wasn't always an easy person to like - he was prickly, temperamental, sulky; he bailed on a first marriage and child (the blacklist was a big part of this, in his defense); seemed reluctant to help out with the war effort. But he had talent, intelligence and made some entertaining films. Its a shame his early 50s film noirs aren't better known, for instance. He was a fascinating character who deserved a good biography, and he got one.
Book review - "Can I Go Now? The Life of Sue Mengers, Hollywood's First Superagent," by Brian Kellow (2015)
A really excellent book about Mengers, one of Hollywood's most legendary agents: opinionated, loud, cunning, hilarious. She was at her peak in the early 70s when the cream of New Hollywood seemed to be represented by her: Hackman, Streisand, Bogdanovich, O'Neal, Ali McGraw. Things got harder as the decade went on and really went south after Streisand appeared in All Night Long directed by her husband. She retired, attempted a comeback, could never quite make it, then retired again. Her husband pre-deceased her, to the surprise of everyone especially him, but his investment advice meant she had plenty of money, and her entertainment value meant she was in demand as a hostess until her death.
There was a lot of sex, success and laughter in Mengers lift (photos show her to be quite pretty when young); there was also a lot of tragedy, including a father who killed himself when Sue was 11, a pushy mother who never got over the resentment of having to leave Germany, troubles with clients who Sue never felt were grateful enough (she was clearly a frustrated actress)/
It's very well put together by Kellow who has done a swag of interviews (famous names such as Billy Friedkin) and writes about his subject with skill and affection.
There was a lot of sex, success and laughter in Mengers lift (photos show her to be quite pretty when young); there was also a lot of tragedy, including a father who killed himself when Sue was 11, a pushy mother who never got over the resentment of having to leave Germany, troubles with clients who Sue never felt were grateful enough (she was clearly a frustrated actress)/
It's very well put together by Kellow who has done a swag of interviews (famous names such as Billy Friedkin) and writes about his subject with skill and affection.
Movie review - "Inside Out" (2015) *****
Stunningly good Pixar movie about the adventures of a girl's subconscious - in particular the trauma she goes through when she moved. I moved cities around the same age and went through a similar thing - like so many of these Pixar films this plunged straight into my heart.
There were other tear inducing moments as well: the re-discovery (and re-loss) of an imaginary friend, realising the importance of combining sadness and joy, the different emotions in everyone's head, the way your emotions become more complex as you grow up, the loss of childhood memories.
The animation remains as superb as ever. This one has more of an all star behind the mike cast than normal but its hard to fault their work: Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, etc.
There were other tear inducing moments as well: the re-discovery (and re-loss) of an imaginary friend, realising the importance of combining sadness and joy, the different emotions in everyone's head, the way your emotions become more complex as you grow up, the loss of childhood memories.
The animation remains as superb as ever. This one has more of an all star behind the mike cast than normal but its hard to fault their work: Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, Bill Hader, etc.
Movie review - "Trainwreck" (2015) ****1/2
Highly enjoyable rom com, a brilliant launching pad for Amy Schumer as a big screen star, although it's not just a vehicle - as much time is given to Bill Hader, who is also good, even if his character is a bit less realistic (a top sports surgeon who struggles to get a date in New York City? Really?). Actually a lot of this struggles with reality - sometimes Judd Apatow and co. go for the joke rather than reality eg Lebron James' intervention and asking Schumer if he sees Hader's face in clouds (don't get me wrong it's hilarious, just feels like a "movie" whereas the bulk of the movie feels like real life).
The support cast, like all Apatow movies, is stunningly good and rich - Brie Larson as Schumer's sister, a hilariously fake tanned Tilda Swinton as Schumer's boss, Colin Quinn as the dad (I wish we'd met Hader's parents), Vaness Bayer as Schumer's work friend, John Cena brilliantly 'Men's Health' reader as Schumer's boyfriend, LeBron James as Hader's hilariously tight best friend, Ezra Miller as an annoying work experience kid. There are others too.
It's beautifully shot, very warm and funny and has something to say. A very good movie.
The support cast, like all Apatow movies, is stunningly good and rich - Brie Larson as Schumer's sister, a hilariously fake tanned Tilda Swinton as Schumer's boss, Colin Quinn as the dad (I wish we'd met Hader's parents), Vaness Bayer as Schumer's work friend, John Cena brilliantly 'Men's Health' reader as Schumer's boyfriend, LeBron James as Hader's hilariously tight best friend, Ezra Miller as an annoying work experience kid. There are others too.
It's beautifully shot, very warm and funny and has something to say. A very good movie.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Movie review - "The Godfather Part 3" (1990) ***
The fascinating thing about this movie is that for every really bad thing there's a really good one to counter balance it: Sofia Coppola's amateurish performance (though she does look the part) vs Andy Garcia's electric one; Talia Shire's brilliant reinvention as a Lucretia Borgia type matriarch of the Corleones vs Diane Keaton's flat, permed Kay; George Hamilton's unexpectedly good turn as a lawyer vs wasting the role of Michael Corleone's son; some delightfully dodgy priests vs the insulting concept of the Mafia trying to save the life of the new Pope; the stunning production design vs editing which keeps chopping up scenes.
I disagree with Coppola's assertion in that the first two films told the story - there was much to be had from the saga of Michael Corleone's third act: the fate of him, the kids, his family, was inherently dramatic. And this film kind of has it - Michael wanting to go legitimate but being tempted back to the old ways; uncertainty over the loyalty of Vincent; worried about his kids and soul.
There are plenty of great moments and performances - the action sequences are done well, including an interesting assassination via helicopter through the roofs, and a revenge shooting at a parade; the finale was satisfying; support players like Hamilton, Eli Wallach, Mario Donatone (a genuinely scary assassin) and Joe Mantegna work well.
It does feel as though Coppola and Puzo could never quite get the drama right - it needed the extra conflict that would have been provided by Tom Hagen, or Michael's son, having a bigger role. Also the Vatican stuff, while kind of interesting, ultimately isn't that effective dramatically because it doesn't really involve the Corleones - it's not like the plan to take over Cuba in Part 2 where they had so much money involved - this is like a casual investment. Michael's son being an opera singer is dull. John Savage does nothing as a priest. I wish they'd just redone King Lear, which has a great structure for something like this. Still, it is worth watching.
I disagree with Coppola's assertion in that the first two films told the story - there was much to be had from the saga of Michael Corleone's third act: the fate of him, the kids, his family, was inherently dramatic. And this film kind of has it - Michael wanting to go legitimate but being tempted back to the old ways; uncertainty over the loyalty of Vincent; worried about his kids and soul.
There are plenty of great moments and performances - the action sequences are done well, including an interesting assassination via helicopter through the roofs, and a revenge shooting at a parade; the finale was satisfying; support players like Hamilton, Eli Wallach, Mario Donatone (a genuinely scary assassin) and Joe Mantegna work well.
It does feel as though Coppola and Puzo could never quite get the drama right - it needed the extra conflict that would have been provided by Tom Hagen, or Michael's son, having a bigger role. Also the Vatican stuff, while kind of interesting, ultimately isn't that effective dramatically because it doesn't really involve the Corleones - it's not like the plan to take over Cuba in Part 2 where they had so much money involved - this is like a casual investment. Michael's son being an opera singer is dull. John Savage does nothing as a priest. I wish they'd just redone King Lear, which has a great structure for something like this. Still, it is worth watching.
TV review - "Spyforce Ep 23 - 'The Major'" (1971) ***
A highly entertaining Spyforce because of the support cast and subplots. Jack Thompson is sent to blow up a bridge in Burma and is given an accomplice - not Peter Sumner who's not in this, but Anna Marie Winchester as Jill Seymour, which automatically makes this a more interesting episode because of her beauty and sex appeal. They come across a base for a British long range patrol group, where Scottish sergeant Nick Tate has this sort of homoerotic thing going with an incompetent soldier he's bullying, and the local officer Tony Wager reads up on tactics and despite being less good looking than Thompson or Tate is the one who gets Winchester into bed.
Winchester flashes her nipples in a bath scene which is pretty racy, there are lots of explosions going on and high quality of acting. There are some clangy moments such as never giving Nick Tate a proper death scene or Wager a final scene, and having it all be part of some Cato conspiracy to help the Americans... which doesn't make any sense since they're on our side. Anyway, still, good fun.
Winchester flashes her nipples in a bath scene which is pretty racy, there are lots of explosions going on and high quality of acting. There are some clangy moments such as never giving Nick Tate a proper death scene or Wager a final scene, and having it all be part of some Cato conspiracy to help the Americans... which doesn't make any sense since they're on our side. Anyway, still, good fun.
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Movie review - "Five Million Years to Earth" (1968) (re-viewing) ***
I've previously reviewed this under its British title Quatermass and the Pit. I confess to having mixed feelings about the movie - it's one of the best known titles from that late 60s period of Hammer where they still tried (eg The Devil Rides Out, Frankenstein Created Woman); it is intelligent, there are so many good things about the movie. And yet... it never quite works.
The more often I see it, the more its flaws bother me - and I can't help wishing it was given the Val Guest treatment. Guest's Quatermass movies would move - they had tremendous pace and energy. Roy Ward Baker could be a very poor director and he doesn't cover himself in glory here. He muffs opportunities to make thing exciting, particularly at the end when the martians unleash their powers and humans go berserk. Andrew Keir is a fine Quatermass but isn't the driven obsessive he is in the first two movies; he has to share the hero role with James Donald, whose characterisation is undercooked - and the final sacrifice at the end is a damp squib. (This part needed star power - I wish Christopher Lee had been available).
It gets off to a flying start with the discovery of mysterious objects at an underground station - archeologist Donald gets excited, as do the military who think it's an unexploded Nazi bomb, and Quatermass is brought in. There's talk of the creepiness of the area, with Aussie Grant Taylor looking fat and on the verge of a heart attack as a constable.
Around half way through things go wonky for me. There's an awful lot of theorising and Quatermass simply guessing accurate what it's all about - most irritatingly in the finale when he figures out how to beat the alien force just with a bit of brain storming. It feels like a cheat.
This movie has so many fantastic ideas and concepts but I don't feel Nigel Kneale could adapt them to cinema to the great effect - I kind of wish this was remade. It doesn't help that the special effects are so variable - the space ship is great but the aliens silly, especially the flashbacks to masses of aliens.
But it is a smart movie, it tries to be something superior - it demands respect. I just wish it was better.
The more often I see it, the more its flaws bother me - and I can't help wishing it was given the Val Guest treatment. Guest's Quatermass movies would move - they had tremendous pace and energy. Roy Ward Baker could be a very poor director and he doesn't cover himself in glory here. He muffs opportunities to make thing exciting, particularly at the end when the martians unleash their powers and humans go berserk. Andrew Keir is a fine Quatermass but isn't the driven obsessive he is in the first two movies; he has to share the hero role with James Donald, whose characterisation is undercooked - and the final sacrifice at the end is a damp squib. (This part needed star power - I wish Christopher Lee had been available).
It gets off to a flying start with the discovery of mysterious objects at an underground station - archeologist Donald gets excited, as do the military who think it's an unexploded Nazi bomb, and Quatermass is brought in. There's talk of the creepiness of the area, with Aussie Grant Taylor looking fat and on the verge of a heart attack as a constable.
Around half way through things go wonky for me. There's an awful lot of theorising and Quatermass simply guessing accurate what it's all about - most irritatingly in the finale when he figures out how to beat the alien force just with a bit of brain storming. It feels like a cheat.
This movie has so many fantastic ideas and concepts but I don't feel Nigel Kneale could adapt them to cinema to the great effect - I kind of wish this was remade. It doesn't help that the special effects are so variable - the space ship is great but the aliens silly, especially the flashbacks to masses of aliens.
But it is a smart movie, it tries to be something superior - it demands respect. I just wish it was better.
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Movie review - "Riffraff" (1947) ***
It's wonderful when you watch an old B movie and you can feel the director really try - that's clearly what Ted Tetzlaff was doing on this RKO number, which is made with a lot of care. There's a fantastic opening sequence, starting with a lizard growling and crossing to a rain drenched airport at night (I saw this as a kid and it's always stayed with me) and kicking on into a silent 5 minute or so sequence on a plane.
The plane lands in Panama and the action gets more conventional with Pat O'Brien too old and not particularly charismatic to play a man about town, but he tries, as does everyone in the cast. The leads are B players - O'Brien, Anne Jeffrey - but the support is solid: Walter Slezak, Jerome Cowan.
It's based on an original screenplay by Martin Rackin, but isn't that original being a compendium of a whole lot of Humphrey Bogart/Alan Ladd films set in a Hollywood backlot version of a big city in a third world country, with Panama hats, lounges, lounge singers (Anne Jeffreys doing an Ann Sheridan impression), bars, venetian blinds, comic dogs and off siders, no one looking too foreign, lots of smoking, wacky sidekicks (Percy Kilbridge seemingly channeling Walter Brennan from To Have and Have Not).
Story wise its big flaw is that O'Brien is passive a lot of the time, being ignorant of the fact that the Macguffin - a map - is on his wall. This is frustrating and caused me to lose a little interest by the end. But it has charm, loving photography and design, and is well directed; and I have a soft spot for late 40s RKO film noirs.
The plane lands in Panama and the action gets more conventional with Pat O'Brien too old and not particularly charismatic to play a man about town, but he tries, as does everyone in the cast. The leads are B players - O'Brien, Anne Jeffrey - but the support is solid: Walter Slezak, Jerome Cowan.
It's based on an original screenplay by Martin Rackin, but isn't that original being a compendium of a whole lot of Humphrey Bogart/Alan Ladd films set in a Hollywood backlot version of a big city in a third world country, with Panama hats, lounges, lounge singers (Anne Jeffreys doing an Ann Sheridan impression), bars, venetian blinds, comic dogs and off siders, no one looking too foreign, lots of smoking, wacky sidekicks (Percy Kilbridge seemingly channeling Walter Brennan from To Have and Have Not).
Story wise its big flaw is that O'Brien is passive a lot of the time, being ignorant of the fact that the Macguffin - a map - is on his wall. This is frustrating and caused me to lose a little interest by the end. But it has charm, loving photography and design, and is well directed; and I have a soft spot for late 40s RKO film noirs.
Monday, November 16, 2015
Movie review - "The Split" (1968) ***
A Jim Brown starring vehicle from the period he was under contract to MGM, who made a decent stab at turning him into an action draw. This is based on a Richard Stark "Parker" novel, a series which had previously been filmed as Point Blank - the same studio and producers made this, only with Brown instead of Lee Marvin.
It's an entirely decent heist movie - not incredibly memorable, certainly not in the class of Point Blank (director Gordon Flemying wasn't in John Boorman's class; ditto Brown re: Lee Marvin) but it's a strong story, and has an impressive support cast: Brown's fellow thieves include Julie Harris (effective as the mastermind), Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates and Donald Sutherland; his ex wife is played by Diahan Carroll (the nicest person in the film), whose landlord is James Whitmore; Gene Hackman is a detective.
It's a shame Hackman's role is relatively short (though crucial) - he doesn't appear for the last 20 minutes. I could have done with less build up to the heist and more trouble afterwards; also Whitmore's orgasmic face after killing someone is a bit off and the final shot should have had Brown realizing the voice he heard was from a dead girl instead of being too try hard enigmatic.
I think I like the idea of Jim Brown movie star more than the actuality - the concept of this football champion headlining all these MGM action films in the late 60s is very winning, and he does have presence, but I can't help feeling he was more effective in his supporting roles than the lead. But he does add to the charm of the piece (especially considering the plot of this revolves around robbing a stadium during a football game).
It's an entirely decent heist movie - not incredibly memorable, certainly not in the class of Point Blank (director Gordon Flemying wasn't in John Boorman's class; ditto Brown re: Lee Marvin) but it's a strong story, and has an impressive support cast: Brown's fellow thieves include Julie Harris (effective as the mastermind), Ernest Borgnine, Warren Oates and Donald Sutherland; his ex wife is played by Diahan Carroll (the nicest person in the film), whose landlord is James Whitmore; Gene Hackman is a detective.
It's a shame Hackman's role is relatively short (though crucial) - he doesn't appear for the last 20 minutes. I could have done with less build up to the heist and more trouble afterwards; also Whitmore's orgasmic face after killing someone is a bit off and the final shot should have had Brown realizing the voice he heard was from a dead girl instead of being too try hard enigmatic.
I think I like the idea of Jim Brown movie star more than the actuality - the concept of this football champion headlining all these MGM action films in the late 60s is very winning, and he does have presence, but I can't help feeling he was more effective in his supporting roles than the lead. But he does add to the charm of the piece (especially considering the plot of this revolves around robbing a stadium during a football game).
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Book review - "Bruce Dern: A Memoir" by Bruce Dern (2014)
I first heard about Bruce Dern when I read his entry in a book on film stars. I felt it was odd because he wasn't known as a star - and looking back that's still the case, even Dern would agree. However he did have his moment in the 70s, with a series of leads in a number of high profile films - Drive He Said, Family Plot, Black Sunday, Smile, The King of Marvin Gardens, The Great Gatsby, Coming Home, The Driver. With the exception of Coming Home most of these movies were financial disappointments but they have their fans and Dern keeps busy as a character actor.
His schtick, if you could call it that, would be playing psychos and/or villains. He had an unsettling look - wavy hair and unnerving stare, plus a menacing voice. Maybe Dan Duyrea is the closest similar type of actor.
Dern's career got going relatively quickly - he impressed playing Waiting for Godot in college and was soon in the actors studio - but he had a long, long apprenticeship, appearing in a lot of TV, before getting more noticed in the early 70s (he attributes this to a change of agent).
It's a very actor-y book - Dern waffles on about the people he's worked with, actors and directors he liked, his philosophy; he seems perenially dissatisfied with his career - the projects he got, the money he earned, his billing. To be honest and times he comes across as a bit of a wanker - he brags about getting an assistant fired while making Middle Aged Crazy because he had the gall to provide fake tears; he says awards aren't important and always brings up the awards he got; he tells a lot of self-serving stories eg still hinting that he and Maud Adams genuinely had sex making Tattoo.
But there's lots of good stories - having fun with Hitchcock, the joy of working with Frankheimer, his affection for Walter Hill (with whom he made The Driver and Wild Bill). And Dern is an interesting person - Actors Studio, Roger Corman, father of Laura, had a child who drowned, enjoys running, privileged background. I enjoyed the book even if Dern was exasperating at times.
His schtick, if you could call it that, would be playing psychos and/or villains. He had an unsettling look - wavy hair and unnerving stare, plus a menacing voice. Maybe Dan Duyrea is the closest similar type of actor.
Dern's career got going relatively quickly - he impressed playing Waiting for Godot in college and was soon in the actors studio - but he had a long, long apprenticeship, appearing in a lot of TV, before getting more noticed in the early 70s (he attributes this to a change of agent).
It's a very actor-y book - Dern waffles on about the people he's worked with, actors and directors he liked, his philosophy; he seems perenially dissatisfied with his career - the projects he got, the money he earned, his billing. To be honest and times he comes across as a bit of a wanker - he brags about getting an assistant fired while making Middle Aged Crazy because he had the gall to provide fake tears; he says awards aren't important and always brings up the awards he got; he tells a lot of self-serving stories eg still hinting that he and Maud Adams genuinely had sex making Tattoo.
But there's lots of good stories - having fun with Hitchcock, the joy of working with Frankheimer, his affection for Walter Hill (with whom he made The Driver and Wild Bill). And Dern is an interesting person - Actors Studio, Roger Corman, father of Laura, had a child who drowned, enjoys running, privileged background. I enjoyed the book even if Dern was exasperating at times.
Random thoughts - Earl St John
No one talks much about Earl St John any more - which is surprising because his name is all over a swag of British films from the 1950s and early 60s. He was executive producer and head of production for Rank Films, whose product dominated British box office lists for over a decade. The films aren't highly regarded today, on the whole - Dirk Bogarde "doctor" comedies, Imperial adventures, random tilts at the international market, war films.
It's not that people don't pay attention to Rank, it's just all the credit to the work they did (or, rather, criticism) seems to go to Sir John Davis, chief executive of the Rank Group. Davis is characterised as a penny pincher who helped save the company from financial destruction in the late 40s but essentially ended the Golden Age of British Cinema with his taste. St John if mentioned at all tends to be characterised as a "yes man" to Davis.
Is this fair? Was he simply a yes man for Davis? If so - or not - what did St John do? It must have been something. I'd love to know.
My own take - and this is mostly guesswork - is that St john was far more influential than he seemed to be. Davis would have been too busy doing other things - I feel St John might have blamed a lot of things on Davis eg telling filmmakers "I'd like to give you that extra money but Davis won't let me." But Rank movies had such a uniform look - that colour, brylcreamed stars - St John had to have had more of an impact.
It's not that people don't pay attention to Rank, it's just all the credit to the work they did (or, rather, criticism) seems to go to Sir John Davis, chief executive of the Rank Group. Davis is characterised as a penny pincher who helped save the company from financial destruction in the late 40s but essentially ended the Golden Age of British Cinema with his taste. St John if mentioned at all tends to be characterised as a "yes man" to Davis.
Is this fair? Was he simply a yes man for Davis? If so - or not - what did St John do? It must have been something. I'd love to know.
My own take - and this is mostly guesswork - is that St john was far more influential than he seemed to be. Davis would have been too busy doing other things - I feel St John might have blamed a lot of things on Davis eg telling filmmakers "I'd like to give you that extra money but Davis won't let me." But Rank movies had such a uniform look - that colour, brylcreamed stars - St John had to have had more of an impact.
Saturday, November 07, 2015
Movie review - "Fear is the Key" (1972) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)
Barry Newman had a brief vogue as an action hero in the early 70s with films like Vanishing Point, The Salzburg Connection and this. It's based on an Alistair MacLean novel, during a period when a series of such adaptations struggled at the US box office - When Eight Bells Toll, Puppet on a Chain.
This is the wisdom of hindsight, of course, but I think you can tell why - for starters Newman isn't an automatic hero who you accept and enjoy as a tough guy. That gives the piece some novelty, he's excellent in the dramatic moments at the end, he's a believable family man - but not so much as a brilliant car driver, or someone handsome enough to turn Suzy Kendall into an ally even after he's kidnapped her, and/or someone to punch out various henchmen.
There's a typical MacLean twist that involves us not knowing what hero Newman is up to until the two thirds mark - thinking he's a baddy then discovering he's a goodie. He had Richard Burton do that in Where Eagles Dare. The thing is, for most of Dare we thought Burton was a goodie, then briefly thought he was a baddy, then realised he was a goody. Also we had Clint Eastwood as an audience surrogate.
Here Newman seems to be dodgy - he starts a fight, shoots a cop... it doesn't make him very sympathetic. We guess that there's some agenda because in the opening scene we see him hear a girlfriend and friend be killed... but maybe it would have been better if we'd known all along, we could have been more emotionally invested in him. Of course it is a nice reveal at the end that his young son was in the plane... but it's very late in the day. Maybe the best thing to do would have been tell the story from Suzy Kendall's point of view - she could have been the audience surrogate (like Audrey Hepburn in Charade).
On the topic of Kendall, she wasn't the best actress in the world but her part needed to be bigger. She's just this good looking frightened thing - we never get a sense of growing attraction toward (or indeed any feelings about) Newman. The involvement of Ray McNally - as Kendall's father -felt under-developed too.
Positives include stylish photography and music, some excellent support performances (including Ben Kingsley as a scary henchman, and Dolph Sweet). And the final confrontation on the ocean floor was effective. Just don't stress too much about logic.
This is the wisdom of hindsight, of course, but I think you can tell why - for starters Newman isn't an automatic hero who you accept and enjoy as a tough guy. That gives the piece some novelty, he's excellent in the dramatic moments at the end, he's a believable family man - but not so much as a brilliant car driver, or someone handsome enough to turn Suzy Kendall into an ally even after he's kidnapped her, and/or someone to punch out various henchmen.
There's a typical MacLean twist that involves us not knowing what hero Newman is up to until the two thirds mark - thinking he's a baddy then discovering he's a goodie. He had Richard Burton do that in Where Eagles Dare. The thing is, for most of Dare we thought Burton was a goodie, then briefly thought he was a baddy, then realised he was a goody. Also we had Clint Eastwood as an audience surrogate.
Here Newman seems to be dodgy - he starts a fight, shoots a cop... it doesn't make him very sympathetic. We guess that there's some agenda because in the opening scene we see him hear a girlfriend and friend be killed... but maybe it would have been better if we'd known all along, we could have been more emotionally invested in him. Of course it is a nice reveal at the end that his young son was in the plane... but it's very late in the day. Maybe the best thing to do would have been tell the story from Suzy Kendall's point of view - she could have been the audience surrogate (like Audrey Hepburn in Charade).
On the topic of Kendall, she wasn't the best actress in the world but her part needed to be bigger. She's just this good looking frightened thing - we never get a sense of growing attraction toward (or indeed any feelings about) Newman. The involvement of Ray McNally - as Kendall's father -felt under-developed too.
Positives include stylish photography and music, some excellent support performances (including Ben Kingsley as a scary henchman, and Dolph Sweet). And the final confrontation on the ocean floor was effective. Just don't stress too much about logic.
Movie review - "The Interview" (2015) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)
One of the most politically significant films in recent times - how many movies spark an attack from an overseas country, in this case a cyber attack from North Korea? It's actually got a lot of funny moments in it as well as actually giving two decent roles to Asian-American comedians - Randall Park is hilarious as Kim Jong-Un and Diana Bang even funner as a North Korean officer.
The beginning is a bit iffy - too much time was given over to James Franco riffing and crapping on - there wasn't that much fresh about his character: a hyper actively slightly idiotic TV host. Seth Rogen is fair more likeable but even then scenes where we set up his character's dissatisfaction seemed odd - everyone does celebrity journalism now and 60 Minutes would leap at the sort of stories he and Franco are doing on their show.
Also it felt mean that they went over there to assassinate Kim Jong. This might sound dim but that's not a very nice thing to do - not when there's no personal reason for doing it for either character. If one of them had a relative or lover who had been kidnapped/killed by North Koreans it would have made more sense or at least meant more. We know North Korea is a threat to world security but it's not that much of a threat.
Lizzy Kaplan was wasted - ditto that snobby reporter friend of Rogen's. I kept expecting both to turn up in the third act. And it cheats by recreating history.
Having said that there's lots of funny jokes and the movie got better as it went along. I loved how Frano and Park bonded over Katy Perry. It's also a really good looking, stylishly shot movie.
The beginning is a bit iffy - too much time was given over to James Franco riffing and crapping on - there wasn't that much fresh about his character: a hyper actively slightly idiotic TV host. Seth Rogen is fair more likeable but even then scenes where we set up his character's dissatisfaction seemed odd - everyone does celebrity journalism now and 60 Minutes would leap at the sort of stories he and Franco are doing on their show.
Also it felt mean that they went over there to assassinate Kim Jong. This might sound dim but that's not a very nice thing to do - not when there's no personal reason for doing it for either character. If one of them had a relative or lover who had been kidnapped/killed by North Koreans it would have made more sense or at least meant more. We know North Korea is a threat to world security but it's not that much of a threat.
Lizzy Kaplan was wasted - ditto that snobby reporter friend of Rogen's. I kept expecting both to turn up in the third act. And it cheats by recreating history.
Having said that there's lots of funny jokes and the movie got better as it went along. I loved how Frano and Park bonded over Katy Perry. It's also a really good looking, stylishly shot movie.
Monday, November 02, 2015
Movie review - "The Horror of Dracula" (1958) **** (re-viewing)
I've seen this film a few times now and it wouldn't be my favourite Hammer - I admit to being more frightened by Dracula - Prince of Darkness. But it works beautifully - Christopher Lee deservedly became a star with his count, all virility and action; he was a mediocre Frankenstein's monster, but a beautiful Dracula. And has there ever been a better Van Helsing than Peter Cushing - brilliant, whip smart, tough, imposing.
The music and art direction are first rate; Jimmy Sangster's script is a expert example in low budget adaptation. The limited budget helps - it adds to the feeling of isolation and spookiness. And there is a pleasing sexual frankness to it all: clearly the women can't wait to get a decent ravaging from Dracula, especially Melissa Stribling.
In the support cast, Michael Gough and John Van Eyssen are particularly drippy as the supporting men - respectively a disbelieving idiot (and clearly a lousy lay) and not particularly effective assassin. The women aren't as attractive as you'd get later on, but the acting is pretty good. Spectacular finale.
The music and art direction are first rate; Jimmy Sangster's script is a expert example in low budget adaptation. The limited budget helps - it adds to the feeling of isolation and spookiness. And there is a pleasing sexual frankness to it all: clearly the women can't wait to get a decent ravaging from Dracula, especially Melissa Stribling.
In the support cast, Michael Gough and John Van Eyssen are particularly drippy as the supporting men - respectively a disbelieving idiot (and clearly a lousy lay) and not particularly effective assassin. The women aren't as attractive as you'd get later on, but the acting is pretty good. Spectacular finale.
Sunday, November 01, 2015
Book review - "Island of Sheep" by John Buchan (1936)
The last of the Richard Hannay novels - although he is mentioned in passing in Sick Heart River - this is an entertaining thriller with an evocative title and some good moments. Hannay is oddly passive in the tale, although it's from his POV and it is he who starts it off - in South Africa back in the day he helped out an exotic Scandinavian who was in trouble with some shady characters (cue a flashback action scene where we get to meet Peter Pienaar again - which made me think if Hannay had lived long enough he might have produced an H Rider Haggard style series of prequel adventures of Hannay in Africa), and in the present day he's called in to help out the Scandinavian's wealthy son.
I wish the baddies had gone after Hannay rather than some Scandinavian we'd never met. There are some exciting action scenes but few involve Hannay - one where Hannay's mate, some guy called Lombard (I'm surprised Buchan didn't bring in Pallister-Years or Leithen or someone else... wasn't his universe of Hannay chums wide enough?) rescues the Scandinavian's daughter from boarding school, one where Hannay's kid and the daughter get caught by the baddies and wind up on a boat, an undercover plot where Sandy becomes one of the bad guys, a finale where the Scandinavian goes bonkers and overpowers the head baddy. It's a shame Hannay couldn't have done these things (if they ever adapted this for TV surely that's what they should do).
There's a rivalry between Sandy and the head baddy which isn't developed enough (he sets up a potentially great gang of villains but doesn't do enough with them), some evocative descriptions of the North, Buchan clearly has a culture crush on nordic life with his constant references to the Scandinavian characters in Norse terms. It's fun to have Hannay's son Peter John along on the journey although Mary is a little dim to let him go.
I wish the baddies had gone after Hannay rather than some Scandinavian we'd never met. There are some exciting action scenes but few involve Hannay - one where Hannay's mate, some guy called Lombard (I'm surprised Buchan didn't bring in Pallister-Years or Leithen or someone else... wasn't his universe of Hannay chums wide enough?) rescues the Scandinavian's daughter from boarding school, one where Hannay's kid and the daughter get caught by the baddies and wind up on a boat, an undercover plot where Sandy becomes one of the bad guys, a finale where the Scandinavian goes bonkers and overpowers the head baddy. It's a shame Hannay couldn't have done these things (if they ever adapted this for TV surely that's what they should do).
There's a rivalry between Sandy and the head baddy which isn't developed enough (he sets up a potentially great gang of villains but doesn't do enough with them), some evocative descriptions of the North, Buchan clearly has a culture crush on nordic life with his constant references to the Scandinavian characters in Norse terms. It's fun to have Hannay's son Peter John along on the journey although Mary is a little dim to let him go.
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