M (Criterion #30). 1931 Nero-Film AG & Janus Films
Starring: Peter Lorre, Otto Wernicke, Gustaf Gründgens, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Theodor Loos, Friedrich Gnass
Director: Fritz Lang
Available from Amazon.
M, which is short for "Mörder" (German for "murderer"), was Fritz Lang's first sound film, and it typecast Peter Lorre for years after it was released as a villain. Both Lorre and Lang would flee Germany after M was released, both fearing Nazi persecution.
Hans Beckert (Lorre) is a serial killer, and quite possibly a pedophile, who is preying on kids in 1930s Berlin. The audience does not initally see his face; instead, they see his shadow, or shots of his body, or they hear him whistling "In the Hall of the Mountain King". Beckert buys a balloon for a small lady named Elsie Beckmann (Landgut). The next scenes see her mother (Widmann) searching franticlaly for her, as the balloon flies up into the telephone lines. Beckert also taunts the police by sending handwritten letters to the press. The police, led by Inspector Karl Lohmann (Wernicke) pursue Beckert by using fingerprinting and handwriting analysis, while staging raids and questioning known criminals.
The criminal underworld in Berlin is on edge: it's bad for business with the police constantly lurking about, and it's also insulting to be lumped in with a suspected child murderer. Beckert is also unaware that both police and criminals are pursuing him. Eventually, he is found, and the criminals put Beckert on trial in a kangaroo court, where he claims that voices in his head compel him to commit those crimes, and he shouldn't be punished for being insane. Before the criminals can kill Beckert, the police arrive.
Highly, highly recommended.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Peeping Tom
Peeping Tom (Criterion #58). 1960 Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors & Janus Films.
Starring: Carl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley
Director: Michael Powell
Buy Peeping Tom at Amazon.
Michael Powell of the Archers goes solo to bring you the middle chapter of what British film critic David Pine dubbed the "Sadian Trilogy"; three Anglo-Amalgamated films that had an emphasis on sadism. Horrors of the Black Museum and Circus of Horrors were the other two movies.
Mark Lewis (Boehm) is an aspiring filmmaker who works part time taking lurid pictires of women. He is also a shy young man who rarely socializes outside of the office, while leaning part of his father's home and acting as the landlord. Mark also has another interesting hobby: murdering women and filming their deaths. The movie opens with Mark finding and killing a prostitute, then watching the footage back at home.
A family lives downstairs from Mark, and he becomes taken by Helen (Massey). They become very close, and Mark eventually reveals to Helen that his father (Powell in an uncredited cameo) used to put his son in very uncomfortable situations, and he would film them, studying the films which would make his reputation as a psychologist. Later on, Mark arranges with a stand-in actress, Vivian (Shearer), to make a film after the set is closed for the night. He kills Vivian and stuffs her in a prop trunk, where it is discovered by the film crew. The police link the two murders, and after interviewing everyone, become suspicious of Mark, who always has his camera running while claiming he's making a "documentary".
How long can Mark keep up his grisly experiments in studying the deaths of women that he kills, and will Helen unwittingly become one of his future film "stars"?
Peeping Tom is a classic British horror film. Highly recommended.
Starring: Carl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley
Director: Michael Powell
Buy Peeping Tom at Amazon.
Michael Powell of the Archers goes solo to bring you the middle chapter of what British film critic David Pine dubbed the "Sadian Trilogy"; three Anglo-Amalgamated films that had an emphasis on sadism. Horrors of the Black Museum and Circus of Horrors were the other two movies.
Mark Lewis (Boehm) is an aspiring filmmaker who works part time taking lurid pictires of women. He is also a shy young man who rarely socializes outside of the office, while leaning part of his father's home and acting as the landlord. Mark also has another interesting hobby: murdering women and filming their deaths. The movie opens with Mark finding and killing a prostitute, then watching the footage back at home.
A family lives downstairs from Mark, and he becomes taken by Helen (Massey). They become very close, and Mark eventually reveals to Helen that his father (Powell in an uncredited cameo) used to put his son in very uncomfortable situations, and he would film them, studying the films which would make his reputation as a psychologist. Later on, Mark arranges with a stand-in actress, Vivian (Shearer), to make a film after the set is closed for the night. He kills Vivian and stuffs her in a prop trunk, where it is discovered by the film crew. The police link the two murders, and after interviewing everyone, become suspicious of Mark, who always has his camera running while claiming he's making a "documentary".
How long can Mark keep up his grisly experiments in studying the deaths of women that he kills, and will Helen unwittingly become one of his future film "stars"?
Peeping Tom is a classic British horror film. Highly recommended.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
The Last Temptation of Christ
The Last Temptation of Christ (Criterion #70). 1988 Universal Pictures.
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Harry Dean Stanton, David Bowie
Music: Peter Gabriel
Director: Martin Scorsese
Available at Amazon.
Based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis, the film version depicts Jesus Christ (Dafoe) as a person that was still free from sin, but still found himself plagued with doubt, and grappling with temptation. Both depicted Christ being tempted to imagine himself engaged in sexual activities, which understandably offended some Christians. Martin Scorsese also included a disclaimer to the beginning of the movie explaining that it was never intended to be an exact film adaptation of the events detailed in the Gospels.
The main point of the controversy surrounding the film's release in 1988 was the scene where Christ married Mary Magdalene (Hershey) instead of dying on the cross. A brief scene of the two making love angered many protestors. The scene simply represents Satan tempting Jesus with the life of a normal man, which he accepts until he realizes that he has abandoned his mission, and forsaken his destiny of being crucified.
Highly recommended.
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Harry Dean Stanton, David Bowie
Music: Peter Gabriel
Director: Martin Scorsese
Available at Amazon.
Based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis, the film version depicts Jesus Christ (Dafoe) as a person that was still free from sin, but still found himself plagued with doubt, and grappling with temptation. Both depicted Christ being tempted to imagine himself engaged in sexual activities, which understandably offended some Christians. Martin Scorsese also included a disclaimer to the beginning of the movie explaining that it was never intended to be an exact film adaptation of the events detailed in the Gospels.
The main point of the controversy surrounding the film's release in 1988 was the scene where Christ married Mary Magdalene (Hershey) instead of dying on the cross. A brief scene of the two making love angered many protestors. The scene simply represents Satan tempting Jesus with the life of a normal man, which he accepts until he realizes that he has abandoned his mission, and forsaken his destiny of being crucified.
Highly recommended.
The King of Kings
The King of Kings (Criterion #266). 1927, 1928 DeMille Pictures Corporation, Modern Sound Pictures Inc., & Janus Films.
Starring: H.B. Warner, Dorothy Cumming, Ernest Torrence, Joseph Schildkraut, Jacqueline Logan
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Available from Amazon.
There were two versions of this film: the original 1927 release, and an edited 1928 re-release, which is the one I'm watching, strictly to save time.
In the movie's opening scenes, Mary Magdalene (Cumming) is entertaining many men around her, but she's wondering what happened to her favorite client, Judas Iscariot (Schildkraut), who is spending a lot of time with Jesus of Nazareth (Warner). She goes to meet with Judas, who is staying with Jesus in hopes of being made a king. After speaking with Jesus herself, Mary repents, casting off all her sins in a multiple exposure shot.
Our first exposure to Jesus in the film is through the eyesight of a blind child who he healed, which was tastefully shot.
Interesting silent film, I thought. Recommended
Starring: H.B. Warner, Dorothy Cumming, Ernest Torrence, Joseph Schildkraut, Jacqueline Logan
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Available from Amazon.
There were two versions of this film: the original 1927 release, and an edited 1928 re-release, which is the one I'm watching, strictly to save time.
In the movie's opening scenes, Mary Magdalene (Cumming) is entertaining many men around her, but she's wondering what happened to her favorite client, Judas Iscariot (Schildkraut), who is spending a lot of time with Jesus of Nazareth (Warner). She goes to meet with Judas, who is staying with Jesus in hopes of being made a king. After speaking with Jesus herself, Mary repents, casting off all her sins in a multiple exposure shot.
Our first exposure to Jesus in the film is through the eyesight of a blind child who he healed, which was tastefully shot.
Interesting silent film, I thought. Recommended
Saturday, April 11, 2009
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.
Original airdate: April 9, 1974.
It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown.
Original airdate: March 16, 1976
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or as part of the Peanuts Deluxe Collection, a Barnes & Noble exclusive.
While most of the gang is getting ready for Easter, Linus is convinced that it's all a waste of time, and he vainly tries to convince everyone that this "Easter Beagle" will handle everything. Only Sally believes him, and even she isn't totally convinced. Elsewhere, Peppermint Patty and Marcie attempt to color eggs, but Marcie doesn't seem to grasp the concept of hard boiled eggs, as she instead fries them, puts some on a waffle iron, and even cooking them inside the oven, all to Patty's chagrin.
Snoopy gives Woodstock a wooden birdhouse, which he hates at first, but he soon renovates it into a '70s bachelor pad. While trying to get a closer look, or perhaps because of a fit of jealousy, Snoopy gets his nose stuck inside, wrecking it. Meanwhile, Lucy, convinced that Easter is the "gift-getting season" (to Schroeder's annoyance), decides to have her own Easter egg hunt, but Snoopy takes all of the hidden eggs and distributes them to the rest of the gang on Easter Sunday. Well, everyone except Charlie Brown!
Two years later, the gang celebrates Arbor Day, and they all work together to plant a garden...in Charlie Brown's baseball field. The scheduled game between his team and Peppermint Patty's squad still must go on, despite the large amount of gloves placed in the trees. Schroeder promises to give Lucy a kiss if she hits a home run, never thinking she would, and she does, scoring the only run of the game. Rain cuts short the contest, and Charlie Brown accepts it later as a de facto victory.
This was also Vince Guaraldi's last Peanuts special; he died shortly after completing the music for the show. Some fans consider It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown the last episode of the "golden age" for the Peanuts TV specials. Others have criticized the show for resorting to a relatively obscure national holiday for a storyline idea.
Original airdate: April 9, 1974.
It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown.
Original airdate: March 16, 1976
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or as part of the Peanuts Deluxe Collection, a Barnes & Noble exclusive.
While most of the gang is getting ready for Easter, Linus is convinced that it's all a waste of time, and he vainly tries to convince everyone that this "Easter Beagle" will handle everything. Only Sally believes him, and even she isn't totally convinced. Elsewhere, Peppermint Patty and Marcie attempt to color eggs, but Marcie doesn't seem to grasp the concept of hard boiled eggs, as she instead fries them, puts some on a waffle iron, and even cooking them inside the oven, all to Patty's chagrin.
Snoopy gives Woodstock a wooden birdhouse, which he hates at first, but he soon renovates it into a '70s bachelor pad. While trying to get a closer look, or perhaps because of a fit of jealousy, Snoopy gets his nose stuck inside, wrecking it. Meanwhile, Lucy, convinced that Easter is the "gift-getting season" (to Schroeder's annoyance), decides to have her own Easter egg hunt, but Snoopy takes all of the hidden eggs and distributes them to the rest of the gang on Easter Sunday. Well, everyone except Charlie Brown!
Two years later, the gang celebrates Arbor Day, and they all work together to plant a garden...in Charlie Brown's baseball field. The scheduled game between his team and Peppermint Patty's squad still must go on, despite the large amount of gloves placed in the trees. Schroeder promises to give Lucy a kiss if she hits a home run, never thinking she would, and she does, scoring the only run of the game. Rain cuts short the contest, and Charlie Brown accepts it later as a de facto victory.
This was also Vince Guaraldi's last Peanuts special; he died shortly after completing the music for the show. Some fans consider It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown the last episode of the "golden age" for the Peanuts TV specials. Others have criticized the show for resorting to a relatively obscure national holiday for a storyline idea.
You're Telling Me!
You're Telling Me! 1934 Paramount Pictures; owned and distributed to DVD by Universal Pictures.
Starring: W.C. Fields, Joan Marsh, Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Louise Carter, Adrienne Ames, Kathleen Howard, George Irving
Director: Erle C. Kenton
Part of the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection, Volume 2 at Amazon.
The Great Man is a local optometrist and amateur inventor named Sam Bisbee. His daughter Pauline (Marsh) is in love with Bob Murchison (Crabbe), but his upper-class mother (Howard) wants nothing at all to do with Sam Bisbee. Even Sam's wife Bessie (Carter) doesn't hide her embarrassment at his insistance of being himself rather than putting on airs.
After a failed demonstration of his latest gadget, puncture-proof tires involving police intervention, Busbee contemplates suicide on a train ride home, but decides against it. He meets a woman (Ames) who he mistakenly believes is about to commit suicide herself, so Sam tries "talking her out of it" by telling her his own problems. Busbee doesn't realize that the woman is Princess Lescaboura, a royal visitor to the United States. Moved by Sam's story, she secretly decides to help him.
The next day, Sam's home town is shocked to hear that Princess Lescaboura is coming to town; specifically to see Sam. Sam immediately goes from clown to toast of the town, and everyone treats him with respect, including Mrs. Murchison. Thinking that this is just a sham dreamed up by the "princess", Sam quietly congratulates her.
Sam is the guest of honor at the opening of a new golf course, giving Fields the chance to reprise the routine in an earlier short film of his, The Golf Specialist. The president from the tire company arrives, having found Sam's puncture-proof tires (his car had been towed earlier, and he ended up shooting the tires of a police car instead), tested them, and they now want to do business with him. The president and Princess Lescaboura haggle over Sam's services until the tire company offers him one million dollars and a royalty on every tire sold, which he accepts.
The Busbees are now wealthy and respected, and Pauline marries Bob. However, Sam is still oblivious to the fact that his benefactor really is a princess.
Recommended.
Starring: W.C. Fields, Joan Marsh, Larry "Buster" Crabbe, Louise Carter, Adrienne Ames, Kathleen Howard, George Irving
Director: Erle C. Kenton
Part of the W.C. Fields Comedy Collection, Volume 2 at Amazon.
The Great Man is a local optometrist and amateur inventor named Sam Bisbee. His daughter Pauline (Marsh) is in love with Bob Murchison (Crabbe), but his upper-class mother (Howard) wants nothing at all to do with Sam Bisbee. Even Sam's wife Bessie (Carter) doesn't hide her embarrassment at his insistance of being himself rather than putting on airs.
After a failed demonstration of his latest gadget, puncture-proof tires involving police intervention, Busbee contemplates suicide on a train ride home, but decides against it. He meets a woman (Ames) who he mistakenly believes is about to commit suicide herself, so Sam tries "talking her out of it" by telling her his own problems. Busbee doesn't realize that the woman is Princess Lescaboura, a royal visitor to the United States. Moved by Sam's story, she secretly decides to help him.
The next day, Sam's home town is shocked to hear that Princess Lescaboura is coming to town; specifically to see Sam. Sam immediately goes from clown to toast of the town, and everyone treats him with respect, including Mrs. Murchison. Thinking that this is just a sham dreamed up by the "princess", Sam quietly congratulates her.
Sam is the guest of honor at the opening of a new golf course, giving Fields the chance to reprise the routine in an earlier short film of his, The Golf Specialist. The president from the tire company arrives, having found Sam's puncture-proof tires (his car had been towed earlier, and he ended up shooting the tires of a police car instead), tested them, and they now want to do business with him. The president and Princess Lescaboura haggle over Sam's services until the tire company offers him one million dollars and a royalty on every tire sold, which he accepts.
The Busbees are now wealthy and respected, and Pauline marries Bob. However, Sam is still oblivious to the fact that his benefactor really is a princess.
Recommended.
Annie Hall
Annie Hall. 1977 United Artists; now owned and distributed to DVD by MGM.
Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Shelley Duvall, Janet Margolin, Colleen Dewhurt, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum
Director: Woody Allen
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or as part of the Woody Allen Collection.
A winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and Best Director for Woody Allen. Annie Hall was a turning point for Allen, who began moving away from the slapstick and zany comedy of his previous films.
Allen is the neurotic comedian Alvy Singer, who is attempting to maintain in a relationship with Annie (Keaton). The movie chronicles the relationship over a period of several years, with flashbacks into each other's history. Eventually, Alvy and Annie realize that they are fundamentally different, so they split up. Annie moves in with a music executive named Tony Lacey (Simon) in California, a state that Alvy hates.
Alvy realizes he still loves Annie after seeing Children of Paradise, and unsuccessfully tries to win her back. He returns to New York to write a play about their relationship, in which he does win Annie's heart once again. In real life, though, Alvy and Annie are still able to remain friends.
Highly, highly recommended.
Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Paul Simon, Shelley Duvall, Janet Margolin, Colleen Dewhurt, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum
Director: Woody Allen
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or as part of the Woody Allen Collection.
A winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and Best Director for Woody Allen. Annie Hall was a turning point for Allen, who began moving away from the slapstick and zany comedy of his previous films.
Allen is the neurotic comedian Alvy Singer, who is attempting to maintain in a relationship with Annie (Keaton). The movie chronicles the relationship over a period of several years, with flashbacks into each other's history. Eventually, Alvy and Annie realize that they are fundamentally different, so they split up. Annie moves in with a music executive named Tony Lacey (Simon) in California, a state that Alvy hates.
Alvy realizes he still loves Annie after seeing Children of Paradise, and unsuccessfully tries to win her back. He returns to New York to write a play about their relationship, in which he does win Annie's heart once again. In real life, though, Alvy and Annie are still able to remain friends.
Highly, highly recommended.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Death at a Funeral
Death at a Funeral. 2007 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Starring: Matthew Macfadyen, Rupert Graves, Peter Dinklage, Alan Tudyk, Daisy Donovan, Peter Vaughan, Kris Marshall, Andy Nyman, Jane Asher
Director: Frank Oz
Buy Death at a Funeral from Amazon.
Dysfunctional family members get together at the funeral for the family patriarch, where just about everything that can go wrong does.
After a coffin is brought to the family home in the English countryside, Daniel (Macfadyen) opens it for a last look, but finds a different person inside instead of his father. He and his wife Jane (Keeley Hawes) had been planning to get an apartment to start life away from his mother, but Dad's death changed things. Daniel has to pay for the entire funeral himself when his novelist brother Robert (Graves) prefers to fly in first class from America than actually help chip in. Meanwhile, Daniel struggles to write the perfect eulogy.
Daniel's cousin Martha (Donovan) and her fiancé Simon (Tudyk) desperately want to make an impression on her uptight father, but Simon accidentally ingests a designer hallucinogenic drug, mistaking it for Valium. The drug was supplied by Martha's brother Troy (Marshall). Meanwhile, a dwarf named Peter (Dinklage) has showed up, asking to speak to Daniel, but he is rebuffed.
The funeral is disrupted after a very high Simon, swearing he can hear someone inside the coffin, knocks it over. He later locks himself in a bedroom before climbing onto the roof naked. Peter corners Daniel and Robert to confess that he was their father's lover, and he has photographic evidence proving it, intending to blackmail the family to secure a portion of the money from the will. Peter ends up tied up and dosed with the same drug that Simon accidentally took. Getting free, he falls through a glass table, appearing to be dead. Daniel and Robert decide to simply put Peter in the coffin with their father, and hope nothing goes wrong.
Peter comes to, and after Daniel's awkward eulogy, he emerges from hiding, and the compromising pictures fall out of his pocket. Before more chaos can happen, Daniel asks that everyone keep calm, pointing out that his father was a good man, but not perfect. Then, he is finally able to deliver the eulogy that eluded him earlier.
Recommended.
Starring: Matthew Macfadyen, Rupert Graves, Peter Dinklage, Alan Tudyk, Daisy Donovan, Peter Vaughan, Kris Marshall, Andy Nyman, Jane Asher
Director: Frank Oz
Buy Death at a Funeral from Amazon.
Dysfunctional family members get together at the funeral for the family patriarch, where just about everything that can go wrong does.
After a coffin is brought to the family home in the English countryside, Daniel (Macfadyen) opens it for a last look, but finds a different person inside instead of his father. He and his wife Jane (Keeley Hawes) had been planning to get an apartment to start life away from his mother, but Dad's death changed things. Daniel has to pay for the entire funeral himself when his novelist brother Robert (Graves) prefers to fly in first class from America than actually help chip in. Meanwhile, Daniel struggles to write the perfect eulogy.
Daniel's cousin Martha (Donovan) and her fiancé Simon (Tudyk) desperately want to make an impression on her uptight father, but Simon accidentally ingests a designer hallucinogenic drug, mistaking it for Valium. The drug was supplied by Martha's brother Troy (Marshall). Meanwhile, a dwarf named Peter (Dinklage) has showed up, asking to speak to Daniel, but he is rebuffed.
The funeral is disrupted after a very high Simon, swearing he can hear someone inside the coffin, knocks it over. He later locks himself in a bedroom before climbing onto the roof naked. Peter corners Daniel and Robert to confess that he was their father's lover, and he has photographic evidence proving it, intending to blackmail the family to secure a portion of the money from the will. Peter ends up tied up and dosed with the same drug that Simon accidentally took. Getting free, he falls through a glass table, appearing to be dead. Daniel and Robert decide to simply put Peter in the coffin with their father, and hope nothing goes wrong.
Peter comes to, and after Daniel's awkward eulogy, he emerges from hiding, and the compromising pictures fall out of his pocket. Before more chaos can happen, Daniel asks that everyone keep calm, pointing out that his father was a good man, but not perfect. Then, he is finally able to deliver the eulogy that eluded him earlier.
Recommended.
Cadillac Records
Cadillac Records. 2008 Sony Music Film & Parkwood Pictures; distributed by TriStar Pictures.
Starring: Adrien Brody, Beyoncé Knowles, Jeffrey Wright, Mos Def, Cedric the Entertainer, Columbus Short, Eamonn Walker, Gabrielle Union, Shiloh Fernandez, Jay O. Sanders, Eric Bogosian
Director: Darnell Martin
Buy Cadillac Records from Amazon, then visit the official site.
This is an excellent musical biopic (but it's not completely accurate) of Chicago-based record company executive Leonard Chess (Brody), who founded the great blues label Chess Record and ran it with help from his brother Phil (Fernandez). The brothers Chess originally sold records out of the trunk of Leonard's Cadillac. Chess either stumbled upon blues talent on the streets of Chicago, or he personally went down to rural Mississippi to find them.
Chess Records became the home of Muddy Waters (Wright) and his harp playin' sidekick Little Walter (Short), along with Willie Dixon (Cedric), Chuck Berry (Mos Def), as well as Etta James (Beyoncé) and Howlin' Wolf (Walker). Eric Bogosian also appears as legendary '50s disc jockey Alan Freed.
Highly recommended film, and one I wished I had gotten to see in the theaters last winter. The music in the film is great, but I should urge you to seek out the originals. Chess Records is now part of Universal Music Group, which has made sure that all of this great music is readily available today.
Starring: Adrien Brody, Beyoncé Knowles, Jeffrey Wright, Mos Def, Cedric the Entertainer, Columbus Short, Eamonn Walker, Gabrielle Union, Shiloh Fernandez, Jay O. Sanders, Eric Bogosian
Director: Darnell Martin
Buy Cadillac Records from Amazon, then visit the official site.
This is an excellent musical biopic (but it's not completely accurate) of Chicago-based record company executive Leonard Chess (Brody), who founded the great blues label Chess Record and ran it with help from his brother Phil (Fernandez). The brothers Chess originally sold records out of the trunk of Leonard's Cadillac. Chess either stumbled upon blues talent on the streets of Chicago, or he personally went down to rural Mississippi to find them.
Chess Records became the home of Muddy Waters (Wright) and his harp playin' sidekick Little Walter (Short), along with Willie Dixon (Cedric), Chuck Berry (Mos Def), as well as Etta James (Beyoncé) and Howlin' Wolf (Walker). Eric Bogosian also appears as legendary '50s disc jockey Alan Freed.
Highly recommended film, and one I wished I had gotten to see in the theaters last winter. The music in the film is great, but I should urge you to seek out the originals. Chess Records is now part of Universal Music Group, which has made sure that all of this great music is readily available today.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Victory Through Air Power
Victory Through Air Power. 1943 Walt Disney Pictures.
Featuring: Alexander de Seversky
Directors: Perce Pearce, James Algar, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney & H.C. Potter
Part of the Walt Disney Treasures set On the Front Lines, which is still available at Amazon.
Alexander de Seversky wrote the book that later inspired this film, and released it less than six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the book proved to be extremely popular, influential, and controversal. Seversky strongly urged the formation of an independent air force, developing long-range bombers, and a commitment to air power instead of just using it as support for ground-based operations.
Walt Disney himself read the book, and was so moved that he personally financed an animated adaptation of the book, pushing his studio to complete and release the film as quickly as possible. The film was created primarily to express visually Seversky's ideas to government officials and the public. Once the movie was viewed by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt during their attendance of the Quebec Conference, FDR agreed with Seversky and America's military made a commitment to long-range bombing.
As for the film itself, it went into the vaults after 1944, and was not released in its entirety until 2004 as part of the Walt Disney Treasures line. Still, it is unique film, starting with a light-hearted look at the history of aviation up until 1943, before changing gears and emphasizing Seversky's belief that through an aerial assault, the Allies could eventually drive back the Axis quicker than just relying on ground-based attacks.
Highly recommended.
Featuring: Alexander de Seversky
Directors: Perce Pearce, James Algar, Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney & H.C. Potter
Part of the Walt Disney Treasures set On the Front Lines, which is still available at Amazon.
Alexander de Seversky wrote the book that later inspired this film, and released it less than six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the book proved to be extremely popular, influential, and controversal. Seversky strongly urged the formation of an independent air force, developing long-range bombers, and a commitment to air power instead of just using it as support for ground-based operations.
Walt Disney himself read the book, and was so moved that he personally financed an animated adaptation of the book, pushing his studio to complete and release the film as quickly as possible. The film was created primarily to express visually Seversky's ideas to government officials and the public. Once the movie was viewed by Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt during their attendance of the Quebec Conference, FDR agreed with Seversky and America's military made a commitment to long-range bombing.
As for the film itself, it went into the vaults after 1944, and was not released in its entirety until 2004 as part of the Walt Disney Treasures line. Still, it is unique film, starting with a light-hearted look at the history of aviation up until 1943, before changing gears and emphasizing Seversky's belief that through an aerial assault, the Allies could eventually drive back the Axis quicker than just relying on ground-based attacks.
Highly recommended.
Justice League: The New Frontier
Justice League: The New Frontier. 2008 Warner Bros. Animation & DC Comics.
Vocal Talent: Kyle MacLachlan, Jeremy Sisto, Lucy Lawless, Neil Patrick Harris, David Boreanaz, Phil Morris, Miguel Ferrer, Brooke Shields, Kyra Sedgwick
Director: Dave Bullock
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or a two-disc special edition.
An excellent animated adaption of the DC Comics limited series DC: The New Frontier.
The movie starts with an unknown entity explaining how it's witnessed the evolution of life on Earth. We soon learn that this entity is the 'Centre', which is also known as fictional DC locale Dinosaur Island. The Centre is alarmed that the humans have developed nuclear weaponry, and intends to eliminate humanity to prevent a holocaust.
At the end of the Korean War, the Justice Society has disbanded thanks to the U.S. government's distrust of the organization, Batman is considered a fugitive vigilante, and Superman and Wonder Woman find themselves at odds over the way the Amazon violently handled a group of political rebels who had captured a group of women in Indochina. Superman tries to remind Wonder Woman that many people fear superheroes because of actions like she had just committed.
Meanwhile, J'onn J'onzz, the last surviving Martian, is accidentally teleported to Earth by a Dr. Erdel, who dies of a heart attack shortly after. J'onzz assumes his identity, and learns about Earth culture thanks to nightly television, where he also assumes the form of Groucho Marx and Bugs Bunny before settling on a detective from the world of film noir. He soon joins the Gotham City Police Department under the alias John Jones.
Eventually, the Centre starts attacking humanity, drawing many superheroes out and back into the public eye, including newcomers like the former Korean War pilot Hal Jordan, who has just been passed the mantle of Green Lantern from a dying Abin Sur, and who is still dealing with issues pertaining to his participation in the war.
Can the world be saved from the Centre?
Highly recommended!
Vocal Talent: Kyle MacLachlan, Jeremy Sisto, Lucy Lawless, Neil Patrick Harris, David Boreanaz, Phil Morris, Miguel Ferrer, Brooke Shields, Kyra Sedgwick
Director: Dave Bullock
Available from Amazon as a single DVD, or a two-disc special edition.
An excellent animated adaption of the DC Comics limited series DC: The New Frontier.
The movie starts with an unknown entity explaining how it's witnessed the evolution of life on Earth. We soon learn that this entity is the 'Centre', which is also known as fictional DC locale Dinosaur Island. The Centre is alarmed that the humans have developed nuclear weaponry, and intends to eliminate humanity to prevent a holocaust.
At the end of the Korean War, the Justice Society has disbanded thanks to the U.S. government's distrust of the organization, Batman is considered a fugitive vigilante, and Superman and Wonder Woman find themselves at odds over the way the Amazon violently handled a group of political rebels who had captured a group of women in Indochina. Superman tries to remind Wonder Woman that many people fear superheroes because of actions like she had just committed.
Meanwhile, J'onn J'onzz, the last surviving Martian, is accidentally teleported to Earth by a Dr. Erdel, who dies of a heart attack shortly after. J'onzz assumes his identity, and learns about Earth culture thanks to nightly television, where he also assumes the form of Groucho Marx and Bugs Bunny before settling on a detective from the world of film noir. He soon joins the Gotham City Police Department under the alias John Jones.
Eventually, the Centre starts attacking humanity, drawing many superheroes out and back into the public eye, including newcomers like the former Korean War pilot Hal Jordan, who has just been passed the mantle of Green Lantern from a dying Abin Sur, and who is still dealing with issues pertaining to his participation in the war.
Can the world be saved from the Centre?
Highly recommended!
Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown
Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown.
Original airdate: August 29, 2003.
Charlie Brown's All-Stars.
Original airdate: June 8, 1966.
It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown.
Original airdate: Sometime in 1992.
Amazon.com listing (discontinued)
Check PeanutsDVD.com for a possible re-release in the future.
Charlie Brown's primary problem as a baseball manager (aside from his own incompetence) is Lucy Van Pelt, his right fielder who seems to be the worst of the worst. After a trade involving Snoopy falls through, Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty agree on trading right fielders: Lucy for Marcie. Neither player seems to benefit their new team, well, much at all, so Lucy and Marcie are traded back to their original squads.
Going back to 1966, Charlie Brown is surprised to learn that a Mr. Hennessey is willing to sponsor his team, place them in a league, and even provide them new uniforms. But things go awry after the league does not permit girls or dogs to play the game. Unwilling to get rid of his friends, Charlie Brown declines Mr. Hennessey's offer. This initially angers his players, but after Linus tells them that Charlie Brown wasn't about to sacrifice any of his friends for uniforms, they reconsider their feelings and give him a specially made uniform...made from Linus' blanket.
The theme of team uniforms continues in the 1992 special, after the world's smallest kid, Leland, joins Charlie Brown's team. Lucy points out that they are the only team without uniforms, and they are promised uniforms if they win a game. Thanks to Leland being too short to be properly pitched to, Charlie Brown and his team win 27-26. They get their uniforms, but Leland quits the team before the next game because his uniform is too big. Charlie Brown simply admits that it isn't how you look, it's how you play the game.
Original airdate: August 29, 2003.
Charlie Brown's All-Stars.
Original airdate: June 8, 1966.
It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown.
Original airdate: Sometime in 1992.
Amazon.com listing (discontinued)
Check PeanutsDVD.com for a possible re-release in the future.
Charlie Brown's primary problem as a baseball manager (aside from his own incompetence) is Lucy Van Pelt, his right fielder who seems to be the worst of the worst. After a trade involving Snoopy falls through, Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty agree on trading right fielders: Lucy for Marcie. Neither player seems to benefit their new team, well, much at all, so Lucy and Marcie are traded back to their original squads.
Going back to 1966, Charlie Brown is surprised to learn that a Mr. Hennessey is willing to sponsor his team, place them in a league, and even provide them new uniforms. But things go awry after the league does not permit girls or dogs to play the game. Unwilling to get rid of his friends, Charlie Brown declines Mr. Hennessey's offer. This initially angers his players, but after Linus tells them that Charlie Brown wasn't about to sacrifice any of his friends for uniforms, they reconsider their feelings and give him a specially made uniform...made from Linus' blanket.
The theme of team uniforms continues in the 1992 special, after the world's smallest kid, Leland, joins Charlie Brown's team. Lucy points out that they are the only team without uniforms, and they are promised uniforms if they win a game. Thanks to Leland being too short to be properly pitched to, Charlie Brown and his team win 27-26. They get their uniforms, but Leland quits the team before the next game because his uniform is too big. Charlie Brown simply admits that it isn't how you look, it's how you play the game.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Paths of Glory
Paths of Glory. 1957 United Artists; distributed to DVD by MGM.
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George MacReady, Timothy Carey
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Available at Amazon as a single DVD part of a 2-Pack Action with A Bridge Too Far, or as part of the United Artists Cinema Greats Collection.
Stanley Kubrick directed this adaptation of the Humphrey Cobb novel that was first published in 1935. The book was about the French army's execution of innocent men to frighten others in their resolve to fight, but the film focuses on the French selecting individuals at random and executing them to punish the entire platoon, as opposed to simply shooting those accused of cowardice.
In the third year of World War I, General Broulard (Menjou) orders his troops to take the heavily fortified "Ant Hill" from the German forces, despite the fact that this mission is little more than a suicide run. General Mireau (MacReady) is well aware of this, but he decides to sacrifice his men after the general mentions he could be promoted. Later in the trenches, Mireau kicks a soldier out of his regiment when he is showing signs of shell shock, which the general denies that such a condition even exists, and it must be cowardice. Colonel Dax (Douglas) also agrees that there is no benefit to the attack, and that the French will sustain heavy losses, but Mireau does not change his mind. During a scouting mission prior to the attack, a drunken Lt. Roget (Wayne Morris) throws a grenade at what he believes to be enemy soldiers, but ends up killing one of the two scouts. Corporal Paris (Meeker) accuses him of killing a comrade and running away in cowardice.
The attack, as expected, is a complete failure. Colonel Dax leads the charge, and while he survives, his platoon sustains major losses, and one-third of the soldiers refuse to even leave their trench. Mireau tries to force them into battle by ordering his own artillery to fire at them, but the artillery commander refuses to shoot at his own men without written confirmation. Even Dax finally concedes defeat after being brushed back into the trench by the rolling body of one of his own men.
Mireau, refusing to accept responsibility, decides to execute one hundred soldiers to punish everyone else, but Broulard convinces him to reduce that number to just three of them, one from each company. Corporal Paris, Private Ferol (Carey), a "social undesirable", and the random choice of Private Arnaud (Joe Turkel) are selected for execution, despite Arnaud being one of the most courageous troops. Acting as their attorney, Dax tries to defend the three soldiers, but to no avail. All three are convicted and sentenced to die.
Dax is aware why Lt. Roget selected Corporal Paris for execution, so he assigns Roget as the officer in charge of the executions, to the lieutenant's horror. The artillery commander meets with Dax with some important information related to the planned executions, which prompts the colonel to seek out Broulard to tell him what happened, complete with sworn statements from witnesses. Broulard does not take immediate action, and with great pomp and ceremony, the three men are executed on schedule. Before they were killed, Roget meekly apologized to Paris for putting him in this situation, which Paris seems to accept.
Over breakfast with Broulard, Dax is informed that Mireau will be investigated for ordering artillery fire on his own men. Mireau angrily denies this and leaves. Broulard offers Dax to promote him into Mireau's position, hinting that Dax had been angling for it. Dax angrily refuses the promotion, and condemns the general for his inability to see the wrongs he has committed. The movie ends at a tavern where the troops are unwinding, and a sergeant appears to tell Dax that the regiment has been ordered back to the front. Dax simply tells the sergeant to give the men a few more minutes.
An absolutely amazing and gripping military film. Highly, highly recommended.
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George MacReady, Timothy Carey
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Available at Amazon as a single DVD part of a 2-Pack Action with A Bridge Too Far, or as part of the United Artists Cinema Greats Collection.
Stanley Kubrick directed this adaptation of the Humphrey Cobb novel that was first published in 1935. The book was about the French army's execution of innocent men to frighten others in their resolve to fight, but the film focuses on the French selecting individuals at random and executing them to punish the entire platoon, as opposed to simply shooting those accused of cowardice.
In the third year of World War I, General Broulard (Menjou) orders his troops to take the heavily fortified "Ant Hill" from the German forces, despite the fact that this mission is little more than a suicide run. General Mireau (MacReady) is well aware of this, but he decides to sacrifice his men after the general mentions he could be promoted. Later in the trenches, Mireau kicks a soldier out of his regiment when he is showing signs of shell shock, which the general denies that such a condition even exists, and it must be cowardice. Colonel Dax (Douglas) also agrees that there is no benefit to the attack, and that the French will sustain heavy losses, but Mireau does not change his mind. During a scouting mission prior to the attack, a drunken Lt. Roget (Wayne Morris) throws a grenade at what he believes to be enemy soldiers, but ends up killing one of the two scouts. Corporal Paris (Meeker) accuses him of killing a comrade and running away in cowardice.
The attack, as expected, is a complete failure. Colonel Dax leads the charge, and while he survives, his platoon sustains major losses, and one-third of the soldiers refuse to even leave their trench. Mireau tries to force them into battle by ordering his own artillery to fire at them, but the artillery commander refuses to shoot at his own men without written confirmation. Even Dax finally concedes defeat after being brushed back into the trench by the rolling body of one of his own men.
Mireau, refusing to accept responsibility, decides to execute one hundred soldiers to punish everyone else, but Broulard convinces him to reduce that number to just three of them, one from each company. Corporal Paris, Private Ferol (Carey), a "social undesirable", and the random choice of Private Arnaud (Joe Turkel) are selected for execution, despite Arnaud being one of the most courageous troops. Acting as their attorney, Dax tries to defend the three soldiers, but to no avail. All three are convicted and sentenced to die.
Dax is aware why Lt. Roget selected Corporal Paris for execution, so he assigns Roget as the officer in charge of the executions, to the lieutenant's horror. The artillery commander meets with Dax with some important information related to the planned executions, which prompts the colonel to seek out Broulard to tell him what happened, complete with sworn statements from witnesses. Broulard does not take immediate action, and with great pomp and ceremony, the three men are executed on schedule. Before they were killed, Roget meekly apologized to Paris for putting him in this situation, which Paris seems to accept.
Over breakfast with Broulard, Dax is informed that Mireau will be investigated for ordering artillery fire on his own men. Mireau angrily denies this and leaves. Broulard offers Dax to promote him into Mireau's position, hinting that Dax had been angling for it. Dax angrily refuses the promotion, and condemns the general for his inability to see the wrongs he has committed. The movie ends at a tavern where the troops are unwinding, and a sergeant appears to tell Dax that the regiment has been ordered back to the front. Dax simply tells the sergeant to give the men a few more minutes.
An absolutely amazing and gripping military film. Highly, highly recommended.
Better Off Dead
Better Off Dead. 1985 CBS Productions & Paramount Pictures (originally Warner Bros. Pictures).
Starring: John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Diane Franklin, Curtis Armstrong
Director: Savage Steve Holland
Buy Better Off Dead at Amazon.
Let's get it out of the way right now: "I want my two dollars!"
Taking place in the fictional town of Greendale in the even more fictional state of "Northern California", Lane Meyer (Cusack) is an average high-schooler whose life is destroyed when his girlfriend Beth (Amanda Wyss) leaves him after just six months for the conceited and bullying captain of the high school ski team, Roy Stalin (Aaron Dozier). Lane just so happened to be trying out for the team himself.
Devastated, Lane becomes despondent enough to believe that death is the only way out, but he usually only makes half-hearted attempts at suicide, leaving him alive, and in another hilarious jam. His family isn't the most understanding one; his mother (Kim Darby) is a Stepford wife who also happens to be the world's worst cook. Lane's dad (Stiers) is convinced that his oldest son uses drugs, and his brother Badger never speaks, but he has a skill of building laser guns while attracting trashy women. Lane's best friend Charles (Armstrong) frequently inhales everyday substances like whippits or snow, while complaining that he "can't even get real drugs here".
While Lane tries to either kill himself, or win back Beth, he starts getting to know a new girl in the neighborhood, a French foreign exchange student named Monique (Franklin), who is staying with Lane's neighbors, and they are evidentally so annoying that she pretends she cannot speak English. Monique is also a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers (Yeah! Boys of Summer!), and she helps Lane fix his 1967 Camaro while giving him something to live for.
Oh, and we can't neglect the persistant paperboy.
Highly recommended flick. Even though I was in the same situation a few years ago (dumped after six months for someone else who was allegedly superior), fortunately, I still could not identify with Cusack's character, largely because I wasn't in high school when it happened!
Starring: John Cusack, David Ogden Stiers, Diane Franklin, Curtis Armstrong
Director: Savage Steve Holland
Buy Better Off Dead at Amazon.
Let's get it out of the way right now: "I want my two dollars!"
Taking place in the fictional town of Greendale in the even more fictional state of "Northern California", Lane Meyer (Cusack) is an average high-schooler whose life is destroyed when his girlfriend Beth (Amanda Wyss) leaves him after just six months for the conceited and bullying captain of the high school ski team, Roy Stalin (Aaron Dozier). Lane just so happened to be trying out for the team himself.
Devastated, Lane becomes despondent enough to believe that death is the only way out, but he usually only makes half-hearted attempts at suicide, leaving him alive, and in another hilarious jam. His family isn't the most understanding one; his mother (Kim Darby) is a Stepford wife who also happens to be the world's worst cook. Lane's dad (Stiers) is convinced that his oldest son uses drugs, and his brother Badger never speaks, but he has a skill of building laser guns while attracting trashy women. Lane's best friend Charles (Armstrong) frequently inhales everyday substances like whippits or snow, while complaining that he "can't even get real drugs here".
While Lane tries to either kill himself, or win back Beth, he starts getting to know a new girl in the neighborhood, a French foreign exchange student named Monique (Franklin), who is staying with Lane's neighbors, and they are evidentally so annoying that she pretends she cannot speak English. Monique is also a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers (Yeah! Boys of Summer!), and she helps Lane fix his 1967 Camaro while giving him something to live for.
Oh, and we can't neglect the persistant paperboy.
Highly recommended flick. Even though I was in the same situation a few years ago (dumped after six months for someone else who was allegedly superior), fortunately, I still could not identify with Cusack's character, largely because I wasn't in high school when it happened!
Horse Feathers
Horse Feathers. 1932 Paramount Pictures; now owned by Universal Pictures.
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo), Thelma Todd, Reginald Barlow
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Available as part of the Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection from Amazon.
A hilarious movie centering mainly around college football, and the upcoming game between Darwin and Huxley Colleges. The jokes about the amateur status of collegiate football players, and how the eligibility rules are always stretched (if not outright broken) by colleges are surprisingly timeless.
Groucho is Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley College. His son Frank (Zeppo) is a student there, and he talks his dad into recruiting professional football players to improve the Huxley team's chances of winning. Somehow, Wagstaff ends up accidentally recruiting two "icemen" from a nearby speakeasy, Baravelli (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo). They also have to enroll at Huxley as students, with the usual comic results, complete with Wagstaff clowning around alongside them.
Baravelli and Pinky are sent to kidnap two of Darwin's star players to keep them from playing in the big game, but it backfires on them, and they get tied up with their clothes stolen. They saw their way through the floor, inspiring a million future Looney Tunes, and rush to the contest, where the brothers even use a horse-drawn chariot into the end zone.
There are some lost scenes from the movie, due to censorship or damage, including one notable scene where the brothers calmly play poker while the college burns down around them. However, a still picture survived for those curious:
Highly recommended.
Also, never forget the password, "swordfish".
Starring: The Marx Brothers (Groucho, Chico, Harpo, Zeppo), Thelma Todd, Reginald Barlow
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Available as part of the Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection from Amazon.
A hilarious movie centering mainly around college football, and the upcoming game between Darwin and Huxley Colleges. The jokes about the amateur status of collegiate football players, and how the eligibility rules are always stretched (if not outright broken) by colleges are surprisingly timeless.
Groucho is Quincy Adams Wagstaff, the new president of Huxley College. His son Frank (Zeppo) is a student there, and he talks his dad into recruiting professional football players to improve the Huxley team's chances of winning. Somehow, Wagstaff ends up accidentally recruiting two "icemen" from a nearby speakeasy, Baravelli (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo). They also have to enroll at Huxley as students, with the usual comic results, complete with Wagstaff clowning around alongside them.
Baravelli and Pinky are sent to kidnap two of Darwin's star players to keep them from playing in the big game, but it backfires on them, and they get tied up with their clothes stolen. They saw their way through the floor, inspiring a million future Looney Tunes, and rush to the contest, where the brothers even use a horse-drawn chariot into the end zone.
There are some lost scenes from the movie, due to censorship or damage, including one notable scene where the brothers calmly play poker while the college burns down around them. However, a still picture survived for those curious:
Highly recommended.
Also, never forget the password, "swordfish".
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