Book review - Moto#1 - "No Exit" by John P Marquand (1936)

The first Mr Moto novel, not very long. Written by Marquand, who once had a strong reputation but seems to be little read these days. He's a good writer - a relaxed, skilled style, a little like Maugham. Very easy to read, and I like the more internationalist aspect of it.

The story is about an American pilot, a one time war hero turned drunk (so an actual decent role for a hero) who goes to Japan for a job which falls through. Secret agent Mr Moto offers him a gig basically spying on America for Japan - this book is a fascinating historical document because it's all about the rivalry between the US and Japan in the Pacific and their growing empires.

There's a mystery girl, a Russian (who I expected to die but lives), a dead body on a ship, a crisis of confidence for the hero who decides to be good, a rival force in the from of a smooth Chinese gangster who is an enemy of Moto, a hidden formula for oil as the macguffin.

Marquand has a gift for action and suspense, like the scenes on the boat - the book could have done with more of them. The drunken hero gives extra meat. Moto pops in at various intervals - it's not his story but he is a memorable character.

Script review - "Laura" (1944) by Jay Drantler, Ring Lardner Jnr, Betty Reinhardt, Samuel Hoffstein

A happy accident because many of the people involved in this tried to repeat the success and could never quite do it. There was a strong source novel, true, but a lot of work was done on the script - this version for instance that I read was full of "additional scenes" and "replacement pages".

The script has three aces - the character of Waldo Lydecker (brilliantly scripted and later realised by Clifton Webb - better than Laird Cregar would have been because he was more spartan, severe), the fact that Mark the detective falls for dead Laura (the character is more interesting on the page than Dana Andrews could realise), and the fact that Laura is still alive.

It's a very well thought out mystery, with Waldo, Shelby and Ann being key suspects with Diane Redfern being the joker in the pack.

Interesting psychologically too - Waldo seemingly gay (or impotent?) obsessed with Laura, Laura liking them dumb and hot (Vincent Price probably gave the wrong impression), Laura a proto feminist who wants to work. All the improvements/new pages improve things - though the detective is quite casual about interrogating suspects in front of each other! (Does make for better drama).

Movie review - "Widows" (2018) ***1/2

That old TVseries had such a great central idea you wonder why it hasn't been remade before now. Steve McQueen goes for a bigger audience and has plenty of names in the cast. Viola Davis is perfect as the lead and Elizabeth Debecki and Michelle Rodgriguez excellent as her fellow "gang members". I did feel Rogridguez's character could have used a bit more meat on her - maybe another scene with the mother in law or that fellow widower she kissed. They could've dropped one of those Debecki-Lukas Haas scenes for that. Cynthia Ervio is fantastic.

Actually there is a bit of repetition in the film - a lot of on the nose dialogue. Often watching it I kept thinking "you could cut that bit out... and that". Colin Farrell is in character acting mode but occasionally has a moment where you forget it. Daniel Kaluuya is very scary as an enforcer but did we really need three quite long scenes where we see him doing some scary enforcing? At times you feel McQueen is more interested in the guys than the girls. Brian Tyree Henry is very good.

The heist is exciting and the montages good. There are constant moments of freshness in the handling. The film never entirely took off the tarmac for me.

TV review - "Ozarks - Season 1" (2017) ****

Gripping, binge-y drama - I've watched a bunch of pilots but this is one I just wanted to keep watching. It's a bit Breaking Bad ish but it has it's own drive in part because the whole family get involved relatively quickly. Jason Bateman is the financial adviser who launders for the mob and winds up in the Ozarks - which I'd vaguely heard of, and I'm curious if tourism has increased since this show.

Excellently acted - Laura Linney brings it - with memorable characters such as the burgeoning crime lord 19year old who could still turn good, and the psychotic gay FBI agent who uses his body in investigations. Beautifully shot. My main gripe is the use of characters killing others with one quick head shot - this trope is getting tired fast (and surely not that true to life). Jason Bateman's character is such a prick!

Movie review - Chan#30 - "Black Magic" (1945) **

The third Chan film for Monogram is the third that teams Sidney Toler and Mantam Moreland - maybe the studio realised Toler was so dull he needed Moreland's energy. Chan doesn't have a son here but he has a daughter.

This actually gets off to a good start with a spookey seance sequence but soon bogs down into flat handling.It's a shame because the story is solid and Toler a little more animated than usual. The ending sequence is strong. With the world of fake seances and a decent script a good director could've really made something of this but Phil Rosen couldn't do it.

Movie review - Chan #28 - "Charlie Chan in the Secret Service" (1944) **

20th Century Fox dropped the Charlie Chan series but Mongram thought there were still a few pennies to be had and picked up the series. Production values and quality inevitably dropped though this has a serviceable script - it's about the murder of a scientist in an old dark house who was working on a U boat.

Unfortunately Sidney Toler is back as Chan. It's been a while since I saw a Chan film and forgot how much I didn't like him - he's bored, flat, uninvolving.

Comic relief comes from Chan's two Americanised children and a comic black butler (played by the very talented Mantan Moreland). The story is actually pretty good - solid mystery. It's done in by poor handling.

Movie review - "Fake Out" (1982) *1/2

The second of three films starring Pia Zadora that were financed by her then husband. As a vehicle for her talent it isn't bad - she gets to perform an opening number, is front and center for most of the action, is flanked by two experienced co stars (Telly Savalas, presumably doing it to pay off gambling debts like his character, and Desi Arnaz Jnr, who has an engaging presence), wears a series of different outfits, runs around in towels and takes lots of baths and teaches aerobics.

Pia is exploited a lot - director Matt Cimber shoots her in an almost lecherous way, with her often pouting and getting changed and being molested in prison by other women. You kind of feel like a dirty old man watching it. She's got that squeaky voice and limited acting range.

You kept thinking this should be better. The story was needlessly complicated. There was too much awkwardly staged action around the Riviera Hotel. It lacked a fourth major character - the part of her mob boss should've been bigger. The colorful local Vegas characters were irritating. (I did like the seeming blonde bimbo who would up machine gunning from a car)

Actually the more I think about it the more this film isn't very good. It should be a simple story about a lounge singer going to testify for the mob but is unsure about her character and full of "bits" that feel inserted. Why only get Pia to sing one song?

Book review - "Mysterious Island" by Jules Verne (warning spoilers)

This Verne classic gets off to a cracking start with a bunch of Union prisoners escaping from a Confederate prison via hot air balloon and winding up on a mysterious island where they run into strange creatures and pirates. Unfortunately there's not enough creatures and the pirates are dull and after the opening third I found this a slog, notably dragged down by the fact the characters were all the same (one was a faithful black, a Verne trope).

There's two characters from other Verne books - Tom Ayrton from In Search of the Castaways, not particularly memorable, and the legendary Captain Nemo, who is awesome and totally brightens proceedings - but he doesn't come til the very end when he gives his back story, reveals he's been helping out, and dies. If only Nemo had made himself known earlier and interacted with the others! I did get a shock on reading Nemo was Indian -talk about whitewash casting over the years. So it ends on a high but I did find it hard to get through.

Script review - "Ace in the Hole" by Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels and Walter Newman

Wilder's first script after breaking up with Charles Brackett was not a commercial success but is an extremely good movie. Ferociously tough, cynical, downbeat.

It has a strong concept and develops it logically - like a lot of Wilder script the structure is divine: starts with Tatum, the reporter, arriving in a small town (I love how he gets in by saying "tell your boss he can made $100 a week" and pitching himself as a $150 a week writer you can get for $50), jumping forward a year, and he goes to a small town to cover rattlesnakes then finds a man stuck in a cave. Tatum interviews him and decides to spin it out by encouraging the sheriff and rescuers to go a more complicated route. He gets the man's wife not to run away, plays up the Indian angle, pays off the sheriff via good publicity. Matters are complicated by the fact the man gets pneumonia.

Its not full of cuddly characters - the wife wants cash and an easy life and stabs Tatum, the photographer is corrupter. Mind you Wilder has empathy for all his characters. Also there are some sympathetic people - the father of the dead man, the principled small town newspaper editor. You need these to off set the cynicism.

A very strong script.

Movie review - "The Fighting O'Flynn" (1949) **1/2

Douglas Fairbanks never quite regained his pre war popularity (such as it was) after the war though he gave it a go. This is an enjoyable swashbuckler which he also produced and co wrote so its a Fairbanks movie. It really needed to be in colour and could have done with a stronger cast and maybe more action.

Patricia Medina is okay but her role is a gift - a lively courtesan - that a really good actress would have made sing. Richard Greene is competent but he's one of those actors you forget are in the movie even while watching him - that's mean, I'm sorry, but it's kind of true. Helena Carter is lively as the lady who falls for Fairbanks - I liked her.

A bit of action. The best bit was Doug sword fighting while really drunk. It has novelty with an Irish hero - the Irish hero is fighting for the British against Napoleon though.The film was a bright spirit.

Random thought - Fairbanks only made a few swashbucklers. He started with two classics though:
1) The Prisoner of Zenda
2) The Corsican Brothers
3) Son of Sinbad
4) The Exile
5) The Fighting O'Flynn

Movie review - "Mamma Mia" (2008) ***1/2

Why did this hit so big when say The Producers didn't do as well on the big screen? Especially with Pierce Brosnan singing so badly and a similarly inexperienced film director?

I think having more stars in it was enormously helpful.  So too was the Greek Island scenery, and an infectious good nature. It's better directed than The Producers. The story is fun, the show is fun.

There's great aspirational stuff for older and young women - older woman get to gaze at Meryl Streep, who gets to sing Abba, and have two outrageous friends (Julie Walters and Christine Baranksi) and be pursued by three hunks (Stellan Skarsgaard, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth), and live in the Greek islands, and have a great relationship with her adoring daughter. Younger woman get to pretend to be Amanda Seyfriend, who gets to sing Abba, and have two outrageous friends, and be pursued by a hunk (Dominic Cooper).

Peter Bogdanovich must look at this and go "why were they so harsh on me for At Long Last Love this lot can't sing any better than my cast" - but this has a better story and scenery and a stronger over-all cast.

Movie review - "A Game of Death" (1945) **

I always wondered why this wasn't better known - great source material (The Most Dangerous Game), top director (Robert Wise), a B picture from a studio known for its Bs (RKO). But it's simply not very good.

Partly its the cast. John Loder is a dreadfully dull hero - lumpy, with a big head and prissy manner (I don't care what a ladies' man he was off screen). Audrey Long is dull as the heroine and Edgar Barrier does little as the crazed hunter.

A bigger problem is the script which has precious little hunting - it doesn't get going until like 45 minutes in. The action is underwhelming despite some pleasing photography and production value. 

I felt really let down watching this.

Movie review - "Shark!" (1969) ***

Sam Fuller tried to take his name off this and as a result his cultusts haven't paid too much attention to it but it does still feel like a Fuller film - lots of tough guys being sweaty and the gal as ruthless as the main guys.

This isn't a bad adventure tale - set in Africa but shot in Mexico - about people diving for treasure. Burt Reynolds is good as the soldier of fortune who gets involved with Barry Sullivan, Arthur Kennedy and Silvia Pinal.

The acting is solid, there's some good action and scenes. Better than I thought it would be.

Movie review - "Lucky Lady" (1975) **

You can say Burt Reynolds should have worked with more top directors at his peak, but the fact is he had a lot of success with second tier talent like Hal Needham and Joseph Sergeant and had a lot of bad luck with ostensible A listers or critical darlings like Sam Fuller, Peter Bogdanovich, Stanley Donen and Don Siegel. (Needham did stunts on this incidentally.)

This was directed by Donen - or misdirected I should say. It's completely clear to see what writers Gloria Katz and Willard Hyuck were going for, a sort of MGM of the 30s picture with Gable, Harlow and Tracy, with modern sex and violence. But he stuffs it.

The film is flabby, has annoying soft tone photography and never seems to get its tone right. I was confused by what was going on a lot of the time. The production values aren't great - this cost a fortune but it's not up there on screen just a lot of puttering around on boats.

Burt Reynolds and Gene Hackman are fantastic as the two men. Liza Minnelli feels wrong though as the girl - I get that at the time it was either her or Barbara Streisand but she's too fey and vague when the role needed someone with a bit more drive.

This isn't terrible it just isn't very good, and also frustrating because you can see what they were going for and they miss. The best bit is the death of Robby Benson. There's also quite a racy threesome scene where Burt gives Gene Hackman's arm a fondle the morning after. Saucy!

Movie review - "Thor: Ragnarok" (2016) ***1/2

Marvel demonstrate a memorable ability to reinvigorate their films by bringing in Taika Waititi to direct this. There's still the action, and special effects (this is all set off earth) but there's more of a sense of humour.

Chris Hemsworth is clearly having fun and he has enjoyable banter with Mark Ruffalo. Cate Blanchett isn't a particularly memorable villain but Jeff Goldblum is great fun and Tessa Thompson outstanding as a drunken warrior. A lot of fun.

Script review - "Showgirls" by Joe Eszterhas

It's hard to believe this actually exists. Maybe it's one of those projects which are better off in short hand having never been made or read eg "Eszterhas and Verhoeven were going to make Showgirls after Basic Instinct but they could never get the finance". That would've sounded awesome. This is not awesome.

It's not even awesome fun. Maybe it is watching it but... I don't know. It's a mess. It's about Nomi, a dancer who wants to make it in Vegas, and discovers it's all shallow.

Nomi yells and abuses people a lot - I mean a lot. Sure, sometimes she gets ripped off but she's really aggro. Elizabeth Berkley played the part as written. Why does she deserve fame? (as much fame as being a dancer in Vegas can get you anyway?) She doesn't seem to like dancing. She doesn't seem to like people. She doesn't seem to like Zack, that guy she sleeps with - so the fact he manipulated her doesn't mean much. She doesn't seem to particularly like her friend Molly, the one who gets raped - I mean she avenges her rape which is cool but she yells at her a lot and makes her go dancing.

I kept expecting the James subplot to reveal that she loved dancing but no - that plot went nowhere. He wanted to dance with her, she didn't want to, he slept with another dancer, used the same lines on both, but then told the truth to Nomi, then left. It was like "why did we watch that whole plot?"

I get the Cristal plot - it's All About Eve. Only in that film you had logical dramatic drive - Eve tried to take over Margot's life, by pinching her men and her roles and her life. There's none of that here - Cristal kind of manipulates Nomi, but basically gives her a job. Nomi gets an audition then Cristal stops it - that's not super evil.

There's horrible treatment of the dancers which I'm sure is true to life but isn't fun - Tony Moss abuses them, that horrible strip club guy Sal abuses them. Why bring back him and the chubby comic, Henrietta? They were awful.

Eszterhas might argue it was meant to be a comedy but it lacks logic and proper narrative drive. Really he should have had someone killing off the strippers and Nomi investigating. And Cristal and Nomi should have slept together.

But it's awful on the page.

Great Unmade Australian Films

* For the Term of His Natural Life - Australia's greatest silent era director, Raymond Longford, was meant to direct this adaptation of one of our greatest novels but as the budget went up Longford became on the nose and the backers decided to employ an American. A great shame.
* Robbery Under Arms - the dream film project of Ken Hall who surely would've done a better job than Jack Lee. Hall at his peak in the 30s or 40s would've knocked this out of the park.
* Collitt's Inn - Frank Thring was a limited director but great producer and one of his triumphs was this stage production. He meant to film it but struggled to raise funds and died before he had the chance.
* My Love Must Wait - a book about Matthew Flinders which was optioned by Charles Chauvel
* The Drums of Myrrhh - Ion Idriess has been filmed surprisingly little for such a popular author - Sandy Harbutt was going to make this his follow up to Stone but could not raise the funds
* The Siege of Sydney - Brian Trenchard Smith does an early version of The Rock - a great shame.

Movie review - "Skullduggery" (1970) **

Reynolds turned down MASH to do this - I get it wasn't the lead (the Tom Skerritt part) and Altman wasn't Altman then but still... Burt!

Maybe he was swayed by dreams of Planet of the Apes which surely must have been on the minds of the makers - a smart adventure tale about the human condition. It's about a trip into New Guinea to find the missing link - they succeed and there's some philosophical questions.

There are some good ideas - it's not a stock jungle film- but it's fatally compromised in several ways: filming in Jamaica instead of New Guinea (I get that it was logistically tricky... they just should have relocated it, because it loses too much reality), lack of a cohesive vision (director Richard Wilson was fired early into the shoot), crap make up for the apes, a confusing storyline, punches being pulled when it comes to humans falling for the apes (there is human ape sex!) and a deux ex machina with Reynolds on trial being saved by a convenient death.

Aussies will get a kick out of a cricket match being played by New Guinean/Jamaican locals and Chips Rafferty as a missionary.

Reynolds has solid chemistry with Susan Clark, who is very good as one of the expedition.

Apparently Lorenzo Semple worked on the script (according to a Reynolds interview) but he isn't credited.

Script review - "Manhunt: Unabomber - pilot"

Very good solid work. It felt a bit "movie" at times, with the hero being so smart and super observant. I kept thinking "is this actually what happened" while watching it.

Script review - "The Crown - pilot" by Peter Morgan

The copy of this I read felt different from the show. But atypically excellent Morgan work, covering a seemingly familiar piece of history from a fresh angle.

Script review - "Travellers - pilot" by Brad Wright

Interesting time travel piece - this one plays a tease for a long while as we meet a variety of different characters who turn out to be time travellers. Pretty good - rich spread of characters, intriguing set up.

Movie review - "Six Days" (2017) **

Disappointing version of material that you'd assumed would be sure fire - the SAS attack on the siege at the Iranian embassy in 1980 (which inspired Who Dares Wins). Not ancient history but enough time has passed for a more accurate picture to emerge - but the treatment feels stock and rote. The initial seizing of hostages, the negotiations, even the final attack... it's so underwhelming.

I guess the final attack was alright - at least the build up to it. But it was very disappointing. You get no sense of the risks involved, the complexity of the situation. It was straight old arabs-bad-and-fighting-terrorists-good. Abbie Cornish seems to be sending up her role, with her big hair and weird voice.

Script review - "Harper" by William Goldman (re-reading)

Goldman's written about his experiences with this in his memoirs-  it was his first full length produced script. It holds up reasonably well - the dialogue is very Goldman, flip and tough. I haven't read any Ross MacDonald - the plot seems perfectly serviceable, a collection of scenes. The roles aren't bad - treacherous secretary, thug, stressed out killer, druggy singer The male roles are better than the female ones - the parts of the missing man's wife and Harper's wife for instance feel under-used. I wasn't wild about the ending being unsure whether Harper was going to be shot or not. Not enjoyably vague.

Telly Savalas Top Ten

Because I enjoyed rewatching "Horror Express" the other night so much I thought I'd do a Telly Savalas top ten. Savalas, patron saint of bald men, who was a news director who only went into acting because a friend couldn't make the audition - Savalas covered for him, got the gig and was never out of work.. mainly because he could really jazz up a support role.
1) On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969) - the best Bond and Savalas is the best Blofeld
2) Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) - Savalas got an Oscar nom for this
3) Horror Express (1972) - The Thing meets Murder on the Orient Express... Savalas steals the film in the last20 minutes
4) Beau Geste (1966) - crap version of the great story but Savalas is superb
5) The Dirty Dozen (1967) - Savalas shines as the only really dirty member of the dozen - he should've worked more with Robert Aldrich
6) Hellingers Law (1981) - pilot for a TV series which didn't eventuate - Savalas is a lawyer, Rod Taylor plays a Texas mafioso!
7) Cape Fear (1962) - Savalas v good as a private eye
8) Capricorn One (1977) gives a great cameo that almost steals the film
9) Kelly's Heroes (1970) - he should've worked more with Clint Eastwood
10) Oh I suppose... Kojak

TV review - "Heart of Dixie" pilot (2011) ***

Some of this felt clunky - was the voice over added in post production? I don't quit buy Rachel Bilson as a heart surgeon. The supervisor going "you've got to work on your heart" felt very on the nose. But the basics are strong - New York City gal in Alabama is a good strong fish out of water concept, it feels novel to have a show set in Alabama, good idea to have a regular black character,some solid villains (jealous blonde, nasty doctor), and the love triangle is very strong - the girl plus bad boy and decent guy who's engaged.

Script review - "Bubbles"

This has a fantastic idea, or at least what sounds to be a fantastic idea - a biopic of Michael Jackson's chimp Bubbles. He's an eyewitness to various highlights of Jacko's life - huge fame, weirdness, child abuse allegations. Problem is after a while it begins to be a bit dull - Bubbles is a watcher, passive for most. I'm not sure how else you'd do it - maybe got a bit more nuts and inventive.

Script review - "The Good Doctor" pilot

Superb pilot. High concept and compelling lead (autistic doctor), the struggles done with sensitivity, there's flashbacks which are really moving (drunk father kills bunny, brother dies), a good medical mystery/emergency. I wasn't wild about the super heroic sexy brilliant surgeon Menendez - he felt overly familiar. Maybe if that character had been female. There is a female doctor whose main role is to translate talk to the autistic doctor. Some good "board members of the hospital character" esp the dude who owes a debt to the good doctor.

Script review - "Red White and Blue" by Andrew Kevin Walker and Walter Hill

This was going to be made in the late 90s, with Oliver Stone attached to produce. I can't weep that it wasn't - it's a tiresome film. It has the novelty of being set in 1976 during America's Bicentennial but there seems to be no real reason. Maybe it was hoping to be like Shampoo and get this resonance (I thought Shampoo's resonance was overrated) - but at least that had some point: Nixon being elected, the war in Vietnam. This one just as a 4th of July parade which really could take place any year.

The plot has two competing teams after a baddy for the death of a girl - three cops, a mustached tough guy who seems based on Nick Nolte, a Hispanic, and a black female cop vs a super tough ex con. The black female cop remains a novelty so this is a bit interesting. The other two cops could be cut out of the whole film and it wouldn't have made much difference, which is a worry. Also jarring is the fact the super tough ex con plot doesn't really add that much to the party - he loved the dead girl, who was the black girl's sister; he easily defeats every person he comes across. There's no twist, like him falling for the black cop, or turning traitor - or her turning traitor, or her wanting to arrest the baddy instead of killing him.

Actually the more I think about this movie the more irritating it was. The dual protagonists didn't work in Hill's Extreme Prejudice and doesn't here. Hill used to specialise in tight dialogue but here the talk goes on forever - endless monologues. There's characters being unpleasantly racist. There are bits ripped off earlier Hill films like cop-attacking-a-leg-and-it's-revealed-the-leg-is-fake-and-full-of-drugs bit in Red Heat - here the drugs are in an artificial eye. Action sequences are fine.

Script review - "A Milion Little Things" - pilot

Very good pilot, full of warmth and good twists - nothing super ground breaking but enough shades of difference to give it freshness, eg starts with a male suicide of the Richard Cory type guy, it's about four male friends as opposed to female, one of the men have breast cancer, one is shtupping another one's wife. I did wonder how much "legs" it had - it wasn't sure where it would go. But you can totally see why it got greenlit.

Movie review - "Life After Flash" (2018) ***

Fun documentary which focuses on the life of Sam Jones, in particular his Flash Gordon experience.Tricky up bringing (dad was a boozer, and they often tend to be for movie stars), he grew into a good looking dude which got him work in films, lept to fame with Flash Gordon, grew a big head which meant he went on strike (to make sure he got paid, he says, as if he shouldn't have been willing to do a film like this for nothing), got re-voiced, went into a career dip, bounced back (The Highwayman years), then dipped again, lost his way, had a problem with money, women and his temper.

Eventually found a good marriage, moved to the more psychologically healthy city of San Diego, and got a new career doing security - so he gets to be a he man and act in a way. Loves doing conventions - I enjoyed footage seeing him boss around the volunteers, and also praying to himself that he wouldn't lose his temper.

The running time is flashed out with people talking about the film and its impact on them - two comics are the most fun, perhaps too much time is devoted to random actors who had short roles in the movie. People like Robert Rodriguez talk as well as hard core collectors of things from the film.

I really enjoyed seeing Peter Wyngarde (as bitchily funny as you'd expect, though he seems to be sick... and indeed died not long after - it's funny to hear him talk about demanding his character live so he could be in sequels), Topol, Rafella de Laurentiis, Brian May, Melody Anderson (who seems a lovely person) and especially Brain Blessed, who is everything you'd imagine him to be - loud, boisterous, a bit naughty. Great fun.

Movie review - "Horror Express"(1973) (re-viewing) ***

Watched this film again just for fun - and it is a lot of fun, despite the slightly jarring fact its set in Russia but was shot in Spain.Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee have a high old time as the heroes, get that great moment where they say "But we're British" when asked if one of them is the killer. (The piece might have had more emotional impact if one of them had been infected). I forgot how Lee's part was significantly bigger than Cushing's. 

Some actors you won't recognise, a lot with moustaches. Telly Savalas steals the film in the last 20 minutes. The storyline rips off The Thing but that works really well on a train.

Script review - "Magnum" reboot pilot

Solid work. Lacks an element of magic. The X factor of the old show was the character of Magnum and his relationship  with Higgins. Here Higgins is a girl, which is fine, but she seems more set up to be a long term romantic interest. I did really love Magnum's ex being a crook. Magnum's friends aren't terribly well defined. I wasn't wild about the opening teaser being fantasy or the fact his friend was tortured before being killed - this just felt mean.

Script review - "Young Frankenstein" by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder (1973)

Not sure what draft this was - its pretty close to the end result from what I can recall. The structure, characters are all the same. There's a bit at the beginning where Frankenstein's other relatives talk about the will - which is intriguing, more The Cat and the Canary type stuff - but we never see them again so it was easily cut. There's more dialogue.

I wasn't a huge fan of this when I first saw it. There's not that many jokes compared to say Flying High. It is done with a lot of affection and respect for the 30s Universal roles. The characters are clearly defined and you can imagine actors being excited to play the parts. The best lines go to Igor - he's got the more obvious gag lines. Some of this is really funny.

Script review - "Rebecca" by Robert Sherwood and Joan Harrison (warning: spoilers)

I remember being intrigued by this film in writings about it especially of the name Maxim, and read the original novel - I still recall the gasp at the big twist that Rebecca was murdered.

That's been changed here, a little - Maxim still admits to punching her and then she conks her head. Ah.... isn't that manslaughter? Anyway.

I was struck by how much time this spent on character. The opening 30 pages is devoted to the romance between Maxim and "I" (little odd to read that in the character header) so their relationship has a firm footing. It's not a very healthy relationship - Maxim is snappy and rude, and emotionally abusive. He doesn't hit her and is handsome and rich - and she's dutiful and doesn't have anyone and is a moron. You do utterly believe it would happen - she doesn't know any better and he needs an easy ride.

The rest of it is subtle and well done - this would never fly as an original script, I reckon they'd think it was too dull, but it had a best seller behind it. They go to Manderlay, she meets his sister (who clocks her as a nice ninny), she clashes with the superb villain Mrs Danvers (some wonderfully subtle writing, with Danvers talking about clothes and hairbrushes and suggesting "I" kill herself). The big set piece is the masqueraade ball.

The secret comes out with half an hour to go and the rest has the characters as passive - it's the inquest, with Maxim and "I" being swept along. The most active thing Maxim does is refuse to be blackmailed. He's saved by a deux ex machina of Rebecca's cancer diagnosis. I thought maybe at the end of the film they might give "I" a moment against Mrs Danvers as the house burns down but "I" is pretty much shunted off.

The film still has freshness because of its depiction of power, twisted relationships, sex, and repression.

Remembering Susan Strasberg

Watched some Taste of Fear today which got me thinking about Susan Strasberg. She seemed to pop up a lot in films I watched growing up - Picnic, The High Bright Sun, The Trip, Psych Out. She'd pop up in memoirs too usually having an affair with someone - Richard Burton, Warren Beatty, Chris Jones. No one seems to really rate her acting  but I've always liked her.

She was the daughter of famous Lee and Paula Strasberg and rose to fame relatively quickly - a role in Picnic and then Anne Frank on Broadway. She was the lead in Stage Struck - big shoes to fill as it was a remake of Morning Glory. Her reviews weren't good and she never got it back. She wasn't in the Anne Frank film, she bummed around Europe, was in some unremarkable films, lost career momentum.

She seemed a natural as a precocious kid - she developed into specialty of "scared young woman". But she never seemed to really develop her gift.Or maybe she did - I don't know. The drugs and exotic love life couldn't have helped. But it is harder for women.

Her film CV includes some films to be proud of: Picnic, Taste of Fear, The Trip, Psych Out. I think it was just she started with such a bang with such tremendous lineage that her career had this aura of disappointment about it.

Movie review - "Sam Whiskey" (1969) **1/2

Little remembered but an early crystallisation of the screen persona of Burt Reynolds - swaggering, funny, brash, brave, a good friend and comfortable with women. It was written by William Norton who later wrote White Lightning a key film in establishing Reynolds' stardom.

This wasn't a hit and I wonder why. Maybe because it mixed two films which don't normally go together - underwater treasure hunting and Western. It's weird to see cowboys in diving equipment.

Also I think it was a mistake to wait so long to bring in Burt's crew (Clint Walker, Ossie Davis). We spend all this time with him and Angie Dickinson (sexy as ever) then late in the day it becomes an ensemble piece. I actually had the same problem with Rough Cut with Reynolds later on.

Not bad - enjoyable. But flawed. Burt is clearly having a great time.

Movie review - "High Risk" (1981) **1/2

Stewart Raffill isn't a namemuch beloved by auteurists but he definitely had a singular vision for a while there - adventure films about families and animals. When the market for that dried up he moved more to action, such as this.

It has a high concept-y premise - four friends decided to parachute into Columbia to stealoff a drug lord and have adventures. Raffill keeps it at a light touch, the production values are strong and the acting is good - there are cameos (or roles that could be shot in 2-3 days, anyway) from Ernest Borgnine, James Coburn and Anthony Quinn, and energetic lead performances from James Brolin (who looks great with a beard), Linday Wagner (great shoulders, and her hair always seems wet), Cleavon Little, Bruce Davidson, and Chick Vennera.

The tone is never completely right - it's a little bit jokey but a little bit serious. These people are in over their head but you never get the sense they are in danger. Some people die, but it doesn't seem to mean anything. I don't know - it's hard to describe. A film about amateurs taking on drug lords and revolutionaries feels as though it should be a bit more serious. But maybe that wouldn't have worked. Maybe if the characters had been all ex military or something like The A Team? I don't know.

I do wish more work had been done on the characters - it was hard to tell the four leads apart, except Little was black and Brolin glowered. Wagner at least had a character - a drug taker who'd been arrested.

I kept wishing for extra plot complications - for two of the heroes to be brothers, say, or for someone to turn traitor or have a personal vendetta against Coburn, or for Coburn's mistress to come along, or a love triangle. I expected Wagner and Brolin to hook up but they have barely any scenes together - its her and Vennera which isn't very exciting. Anthony Quinn's revolutionary looks as though he's going to be really interesting but he isn't.

I would have been easy to give the leads more sympathy - like say Coburn kidnapped one of them or they had kids on drugs. As it was they just want the money, which even though its stealing from a drug dealer feels a little lazy.

This feels like a Howard Hawks film where Hawks didn't direct. Still it's not bad and is easy to take.

Movie review - "Thank God He Met Lizzie" (1997) ***1/2

Excellent Australian romantic comedy which isn't really a rom com - more a drama with humour and romance, but its bittersweet. There's some broad comedy around the edges - montages, wacky best friends - but at it's heart this is a truthful drama with nice, decent Richard Roxburgh falling for Frances O'Connor but the spice eventually goes out and they break up when they probably shouldn't, and he goes on to marry the One After (Cate Blanchett).

I liked the structure - around the wedding, with flashbacks - and the use of devices to tell the story, like the kid Roxburgh sponsors. Bright colours, and some excellent actors.

A very very good film, and it's a shame Alexandra Long didn't do more films (that were made, at any rate). Bob Ellis wrote lovingly of this film - his tryst with Long livened up the Sydney scene for a bit in 1999.

Movie review - "The Adventures of Barry McKenzie" (1972) ***1/2

Very funny ocker comedy which helped prove Australians would go see their own comedies. It's still funny in part because Barry Humphries is ruthless about everyone - he takes on every Australian stereotype as well as British. Barry Crocker has a clean cut nature that works well with his character, Humphries is hilarious.

Movie review - "Maybe This Time" (1980) **

A real Bob Ellis movie, though co written with his wife Anne Brooksbank. Lots of dodgy sexual politics, and monologues, and regret. The one conservative character, Ken Shorter, is a terrible lover. The lefties who are arseholes like Bill Hunter and Mike Preston are great in the sack. It was cut about and edited - Ellis whined about this, as he often would.

There are some effective moments and at least it's different. The acting is pretty good. (Judy Moris is the lead). It's not very well directed.

Movie review - "Breaker Morant" (1979) ****

Really excellent Australian film. Strong source material - it was a book and a play, with a guaranteed strong ending - has its perfect director in Bruce Beresford, who probably did the fastest paced Australian films of this time. He keeps the action spanking along, livening up a courtroom drama with flashbacks and a Boer attack.

Very strong acting - Bryan Brown in a role Jack Thompson would have played, Jack Thompson in a role Edward Woodward would have played, Edward Woodward probably just okay as Breaker when someone like say Michael Caine or Sean Connery would have made it sing, but I he's who they could get.

Great movie.

Movie review - "Crocodile Dundee" (1986) ***1/2

This has one of the greatest endings in comedy - not just Australian comedy but comedy full stop, with the girl chasing after Mick and declaring her love and Mick climbing over the people to get to her with a wonderful Pete Best score. It's a fantastic ending.

The film itself ambles along - very light on plot. It's a collection of scenes really rather than a proper story. But Hogan is perfect in the role, the support cast very good (Linda Koslowski matches him well).

Some of it isn't very politically correct but I laughed at John Meillion, and David Gulpilil, and it has a wonderful sense of family and community with Dundee making friends with everyone. Paul Hogan and John Cornell were super smart businessmen but this film has genuine heart and an infectious good nature. No wonder they thought they had the magic touch because they did - but it soon faded.

Movie review - "Crocodile Dundee II" (1988) **1/2

No one much likes this sequel - indeed I'm struggling to recall moments for it. I did like the opening of Dundee fishing in New York, the murder of Linda Kozlowski's ex was done with reasonable suspense, the rescue sequence with people from parties was fun, as was the attempted suicide thing. The drug runner plot was stock but serviceable. The film felt as though it needed something else-  another character or something. A love rival, say.

The direction is flat. Peter Faiman's work was clearly underestimated. So too was writer Ken Shadie (he was replaced here by Brett Hogan).

There's nice scenery, Hogan works well, John Meillion looks as though he's about to die (he soon did), Ernie Dingo is charismatic.

Movie review - "Flash Gordon" (1980) **** (re-viewing)

Saw it at the Egyptian with Sam Jones and Melody Anderson there. Both are nice. This is a fun movie, with that fantastic music and set design and tongue in cheek. Everyone is in good form - Jones, even though dubbed, is big and dope and likeable and well matchd by Anderson despite her 1980 travel agent outfit... they're two naive kids who find each other.

Topol is great fun, better than Warren Oates would've been - Max Von Sydow, Patrick Wyngarde, Brian Blessed, Tim Dalton, Ornella Muti... they're all fantastic. Some of the effects now creak but it has a magic about it. I liked the serious stuff too like Dalton going to Flash "where you lead I follow". Guy cry!

Script review - "Flash Gordon" by Lorenzo Semple First Draft (1979)

Much was changed in terms of dialogue and also tone - Flash and Dale are a bit more raunchy, whereas in the film they were more sweet. But the basic structure is the same - crashing the plane, meeting Zarkov, going up, meeting Ming, only surviving because Aura wants Flash, Flash vs Barin, Dale vs Ming, the hawkman helping at the end.

It's a fun read and there's some things I wish had been in the film like Amazon Warriors. Tiger Man has a big role as an ally of Flash but he doesn't do that much.

Movie review - "WW and the Dixie Dancekings" (1975) **

Popular in its day but doesn't seem that well remembered - it was hard to find on video and wasn't often on TV, unlike other Burt Reynolds good ole boy car films.

Burt is at his most charismatic - confident, likeable, playing a robber and a con man who winds up managing a musical group. The film never seems to know what quite it is - there's a bit of comedy, bit of action, bit of romance (though Burt goes rape-y with the female lead), a bit of excitement. It's a real shaggy dog sort of tale that feels, well, lazy.

Apparently Reynolds wanted Dolly Parton to star, and that would've been fantastic - instead we've got someone called Conny Van Dyke who is okay. The support cast includes people you'll recognise like Ned Beatty, James Hampton and Art Carney. I like Reynolds but am not really into the south or country music -that may make a difference watching this. I was underwhelmed.

Movie - "Murder in the Rue Morgue" (1971) *** (warning: spoilers)

The reputation of this picture isn't high - it was one of AIP's second Poe cycle, directed like many of them were by Gordon Hessler. I actually liked it more than I thought it would - it felt a little bit cut about but not tremendously and had some good things about it.

I didn't mind that much they disregarded Poe's book - rather this is a Phantom of the Opera knock off with Herbert Lom reprising that part (he played it in the 1962 Hammer film) as an actor getting revenge on the a theatre company. The company do Grand Guignol, including an adaptation of Murders in the Rue Morgue, which I liked. It's a decent story, well thought out, and impressive production values.

Two flaws for me. First Jason Robards in a role clearly meant for Vincent Price. AIP must have thought "oh Robards is a big theatre actor he'll be great" but he's not nearly big, flamboyant or fun enough - he's too raspy, realistic. I so wish Price was in this . (He was fighting with AIP over money at the time).

There's also Christina Kauffman's performance. Her character is key - Lom's love/obsession for her drives this - but she's a flat damp squib. I guess the character is meant to be passive but she's really dully depicted.

Still, like I said, I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised.

Movie review - "Tangier" (1946) **1/2

This was meant to be called Flame to Stamboul and was to be a Maria Montez-Jon Hall-Sabu Technicolor epic. It wound up in black and white - which actually doesn't bug me as much as I thought it would because it's set in a nightclub and has many scenes at night, so color would be wasted.

It's kind of a Casablanca-ish film with war correspondents, local police chiefs, nightclub singers, secret agents. There's a lot of plot and while Robert Paige was underwhelming in the lead, Montez was actually quite good - she seems energised by the change of pace. And there's novelty with Sabu as a waiter singing songs like "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain".

But the film became worse as it went on - more confusing. I wasn't sure of the setting or who the baddies were - apparently this was a censor thing. It felt like it had been rewritten a lot - character motivations became confused.It also splits focus - Montez shares heroic duties with Louise Albritton and Paige with Kent Taylor. 

It's a shame because this had a lot of potential.

Script review - "Frenzy" by Anthony Schaffer

Hitchcock's penultimate feature has it's admirers, of which I am not one. I will concede it has some effective moments, but the flaws are too big and weird.

It's an unpleasant film. Hitch had an unpleasant side, as is well known, which is particularly demonstrated here. The lead, Blaney, is a scowly unpleasant twat with a hot temper who is always snapping at the women who love him and clearly is a bit of an idiot. I get that for the first thirty minutes we're meant to think he's the killer but he's not entertaining company. He's super passive until the end. The fact that he was a former squadron leader cuts no ice because that wouldn't have been hard in what, the early 60s or late 50s. Where did he serve? Peacetime Europe? Cyprus? Michael Caine was interviewed for the part of Rusk - even he would've struggled to make Blaney likeable.

In contrast the two female leads, his ex wife and current girlfriend, are likable - smart, hard working,clearly more competent than Blaney. And they're both murdered. The ex we get to see killed in a long drawn out sequence - which is effective, mind, it should be said, it's just not fun.

There's some really awful on the nose dialogue. The way a lot of it is written, it's like a film from the 30s or 40s. There is so much dialogue. I didnt mind the exposition between the policeman and his wife who is an awful cook, that is funny, it just felt old fashioned. There's some swear words and more sex and violence but in these old fashioned trappings.

When the film is visual it's actually fine - the murder sequences are memorable, even if harrowing - the stuff where the real killer Rusk has to track down a pin on a corpse is very well done.