Movie review - "Dogs of War" (1980) **

 This was in development for a few years - Don Siegel was going to do it, then Michael Cimino, then Norman Jewison. So it went through a lot of permutations.

Some of this is fine. It's stylishly shot by Jack Cardiff. The Belize locations impress. I don't buy American mercenaries in Africa but quite liked Tom Berenger's work as a slightly unhinged one.It is a decent cast.

Christopher Walken is all wrong as Cat Shannon, who was so vivid in the book. The character really should have been European and if they wanted to make American they should've gone with someone who was a believable soldier.

The piece has been distorted into a star vehicle. So we don't have anything about Sir James Marsden coming across the platinum and getting him secret, or using henchmen to organise the coup. I mean I know that could've been minimised but it would've been a great support star-ry role for an elder actor

Zangaro is different here - in the book it had hardly any Europeans here it's full of them, the officials speak English, there's a documentary crew. There's Colin Blakely as a world weary documentary filmmaker and a black woman who shows him around and offers up all this information about the country.

For whatever reasons the writers cut out exciting subplots - like a mercenary trying to kill Shannon, or Marsden having henchmen, or Shannon sleeping with Marsden's daughter, or the Russians finding out about the platinum deposit, or there being a KGB agent at the base, or the Russians sending a tanker to the country. Shannon is made dumber - instead of the book where he's super smart, tracking the mystery person who hires him to do a job, seducing the head man's daughter, arranging a massive double cross, doing a lot of research - here he's dumb, whining about being asked to go to Africa, not knowing anything, having to ask a lot of questions in Africa (I know exposition has to be conveyed but couldn't there be a cleverer way of showing him doing it?)

Instead there's dumb subplot about Walken wanting to get back with Jobeth Williams who's got an alcoholic dad or something (this feels like an impro'd Actors Studio exercise) and another dumb one about an African who shows Walken around and he likes her then gasp he finds out she's sleeping with the dictator. I mean, my golly.

This film was produced by smart people who made dumb decisions.

Movie review - "Bridesmaids" (2011) ****1/2

 Still holds up. Hilarious. Some of it side splitting. Heartfelt. Occasionally the tone veers into OTT territory - the Rebel Wilson/Matt Lucas flatmates for instance, some of the things the characters say. But it's made up for by the gold: Kristen Wiig and John Hamm, Wiig and Chris O'Dowd (a great rom com lead), Wiig and Melissa McCarthy (especially that final confrontation wit them), Ellie Kamper and Wendy McLendon-Covey (I wish their characters were given more of a final arc though), Jill Clayburgh getting a decent final role, Rose Byrne shocking everyone in Australia with how incredible she was. A wonderful film.

Book review - "Dogs of War" by Frederick Forsyth

 Terrific novel from Forsyth, full of details and research that are totally convincing. I mean his depiction of female not so much - the horny 19 year old finishing school who just wants to be slapped on the arse, and the majority of Africans who are dumb savage simpletons - but all the stuff about setting up dummy companies, contacting people pre mobile phones, fake passports, buying arms and uniforms and boats... I was totally convinced and it was terrific. There's lots of mention of

It's a suspenseful tale and with a point - Cat Shannon is a three dimensional character who loves fighting but hates politics, has a secret cause... it's nihilistic and bleak and absolutely not flat "right wing".

There's terrific suspense stuff which from memory was foolishly cut from the film. A very good book.

Movie review - "Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson" (1976) **

 That's right, Robert Altman made two films with Paul Newman. This one has Burt Lancaster too. And Harvey Keitel, Will Sampson, Geraldine Chaplin, Shelley Duvall.

It's long. Over two hours. Ambles. Nice visuals, production value. It ambles. Bill puts on a show. Chats. Chats with a woman in his bed. There's Indians. Sitting Bull is stoic.

It shows Bill to be a bit of a braggart and a tool. That was blamed for the film's commercial failure. I don't think it was that - I think it's because the film was dull. Altman wrote the script with Alan Rudolph but they weren't working from a particularly strong source material, I'm guessing.

I was glad it was over. The acting and photography and stuff is fine, it's just dull.

Movie review - "Images" (1972) ***

 I'm surprised this Altman isn't better known. It's kind of a commercial genre for him - a thriller about a woman going crazy and possibly killing people. It's got nudity from the star, Susannah York, and focuses on her sex life. 

Maybe people didn't go for York - who gives a very good performance. Maybe it was distribution - it was from Hemdale and lacked the muscle of a Hollywood major. I guess the a lot of it is ambiguous and part of me (okay a lot of me) wished that Altman had worked on this with a co writer. Some subplots feel unfinished, like York's relationship with her stepdaughter (Cathryn Harrison).

Vilmost Zsigmond shot it, Rene Aberjonois plays York's husband. Beautiful desolate locations.

Movie review - "That Cold Day in the Park" (1969) ***

 Early Robert Altman. Shot in Canada and it feels like a Canadian film. Sandy Dennis is one in a long line of 50s-60s repressed spinsters whom one suspects is a stand in for  gay male from the writer, though I may be wrong about that.

She picks up a guy from a park (Michael Burns) and gives him clothes and a bed and is hot for him. The guy pretends to be mute but can chat and lives with his sister - who is often nude and seems to want to sleep with him. Dennis wants to sleep with him too. He doesn't want to sleep with her so she hires a hooker for him (Luana Anders, very good) and locks him in his room.

Its unsettling and weird and quite interesting to watch. It felt long - I would've preferred her to be ga-ga earlier but then I like my stories more conventional.

Movie review - "The James Dean Story" (1957) **1/2

 A curio. An early work from Robert Altman, a documentary about the recently deceased James Dean. Because it's Altman it is visually interesting. It benefits from lots of contemporary footage - chats with people who knew Dean, stills, clips from premieres of his films.

They didn't get the best talent to talk - people who vaguely knew him at his home down and college, some kind-of ex girlfriends.

You can tell it's made by people of talent. They got Sandy Stern to write it, so the narration (with Martin Gabel's bombastic tones) has a poetic quality.

Interesting. I mean, Dean comes across as a pretentious wanker, to me at any rate, but interesting movie.