If I had realized that I was already seeing another movie set in the 1945 European Theater, I would have put this further down my queue. But it should be altogether fitting to watch some manner of war -- or antiwar -- film on Memorial Day, especially when it has an Oscar nomination and a high body count. Even if the focus is on a nation fighting against the United States.
Based on a novel by Hitler Youth veteran turned pacifist Gregor Dorfmeister (pen name Manfred Gregor) and directed by concentration camp survivor Bernhard Wicki, TB follows several teen boys in a small German town who get excited to be drafted. None of the older citizens share their joy. By this time, the military is desperate enough to put them on the front lines after one day of training. Their assignment is to guard (what else?) a bridge in town, despite rumors that it's slated for bombing by their own side.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
The comic book adaptations have been coming fast and furious, but this is the first 2016 entry I've seen. What can I say? My dad didn't feel like joining me for Deadpool, and the reviews for Batman v. Superman and X-Men: Apocalypse have been worryingly mixed. For this reason, I'm in no good position to compare CA:CW to BvS, and maybe that's just as well.
I had heard before that the theme of the infighting concerned new legislation that would put the Avengers under UN oversight, with Captain America leading the antis and Iron Man leading the pros. (Only Thor and the Hulk are sitting this one out.) But that conflict is rather incidental to the real reason: Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier, formerly Hydra's greatest brainwashed assassin, is the #1 suspect in a subsequent UN bombing. Cap wants to give his old friend Bucky more of a chance than the conventional authorities would. There's actually a third side: Newly minted hero Black Panther, wishing to avenge his father, would rather kill Bucky than let him get arrested. As it turns out, vengeance is a bit of a running theme....
I had heard before that the theme of the infighting concerned new legislation that would put the Avengers under UN oversight, with Captain America leading the antis and Iron Man leading the pros. (Only Thor and the Hulk are sitting this one out.) But that conflict is rather incidental to the real reason: Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier, formerly Hydra's greatest brainwashed assassin, is the #1 suspect in a subsequent UN bombing. Cap wants to give his old friend Bucky more of a chance than the conventional authorities would. There's actually a third side: Newly minted hero Black Panther, wishing to avenge his father, would rather kill Bucky than let him get arrested. As it turns out, vengeance is a bit of a running theme....
Stripped (2014)
Another of my favorite media is comic strips, whether in print or online only. So I pretty much had to add this documentary to my queue on principle. While I chose to watch it last night for its 84 minutes, the timing was also appropriate in that one of the interviewed cartoonists, Mell Lazarus, just passed away.
As the Bill Watterson-drawn poster implies, one of the points is to lament how newspaper cartoonists don't have it as good as they used to (e.g., lower pay, less page space, more syndicate demand for sameness). Watterson had complained about it in the '80s, but it got a lot worse when the Web started putting newspapers out of business. Fortunately, the film doesn't keep an unhappy tone much of the time. It's really about pretty much every subject pertinent to comics in general. And it ends with a hopeful note on the future, particularly of webcomics.
As the Bill Watterson-drawn poster implies, one of the points is to lament how newspaper cartoonists don't have it as good as they used to (e.g., lower pay, less page space, more syndicate demand for sameness). Watterson had complained about it in the '80s, but it got a lot worse when the Web started putting newspapers out of business. Fortunately, the film doesn't keep an unhappy tone much of the time. It's really about pretty much every subject pertinent to comics in general. And it ends with a hopeful note on the future, particularly of webcomics.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
The Age of Adaline (2015)
There's something to be said for taking a single sci-fi/fantasy concept and running with it. Unlike world building, it doesn't require a lot of fine details; the audience can concentrate where it matters. The premise doesn't even have to be totally fresh if you know what you're doing.
In 1937, a highly improbable accident yields even more improbable results: Adaline (Blake Lively) stops physically aging at 29. A narrator gives pseudo-scientific justification and alludes to a future theory, but it's not important, especially since Adaline herself never learns it. Like some other ageless characters I've known, she makes a point not to stay in one place with the same identity for long, lest she garner unwelcome attention from unethical researchers. This means limited contact with her daughter (Ellen Burstyn), who looks much older than her by the present, when the bulk of the movie takes place. Despite Adaline's understandable aloofness as "Jenny," young man Ellis (Michiel Huisman) persistently courts her. She starts to warm up to him but is not prepared for another unlikely accident: His dad (Harrison Ford) was her boyfriend four decades ago....
In 1937, a highly improbable accident yields even more improbable results: Adaline (Blake Lively) stops physically aging at 29. A narrator gives pseudo-scientific justification and alludes to a future theory, but it's not important, especially since Adaline herself never learns it. Like some other ageless characters I've known, she makes a point not to stay in one place with the same identity for long, lest she garner unwelcome attention from unethical researchers. This means limited contact with her daughter (Ellen Burstyn), who looks much older than her by the present, when the bulk of the movie takes place. Despite Adaline's understandable aloofness as "Jenny," young man Ellis (Michiel Huisman) persistently courts her. She starts to warm up to him but is not prepared for another unlikely accident: His dad (Harrison Ford) was her boyfriend four decades ago....
A River Runs Through It (1992)
This has to be the first movie I've seen because of its poster. Specifically, I learned of its existence from a large poster on a classroom door. While I haven't been in school since 2004 and I had no reason to value that one professor's cinematic taste, it just looked so pleasantly...peaceful. And that's what I was in the mood for.
Based on a semi-autobiography, it takes place in Missoula, Montana, for a good stretch of the first half of the 20th century. Minister John Maclean (Tom Skerritt) rather strictly home-schools sons Norman (Craig Sheffer) and slightly younger Paul (early Brad Pitt) with special emphasis on Presbyterian values and, almost equally, fly fishing. By adulthood, Norman comes a bit closer to the former of his father's ideals, taking a university position in Chicago. Paul, refusing to leave his hometown, boasts some important connections as a newspaperman but seems less respectable to polite society, with such habits as drinking and gambling into debt. When Norman returns, the brotherly love is a little shaky, tho shared fishing experience doesn't hurt.
Based on a semi-autobiography, it takes place in Missoula, Montana, for a good stretch of the first half of the 20th century. Minister John Maclean (Tom Skerritt) rather strictly home-schools sons Norman (Craig Sheffer) and slightly younger Paul (early Brad Pitt) with special emphasis on Presbyterian values and, almost equally, fly fishing. By adulthood, Norman comes a bit closer to the former of his father's ideals, taking a university position in Chicago. Paul, refusing to leave his hometown, boasts some important connections as a newspaperman but seems less respectable to polite society, with such habits as drinking and gambling into debt. When Norman returns, the brotherly love is a little shaky, tho shared fishing experience doesn't hurt.
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958)
Rififi is my overall favorite film noir. Thus, when a popular Italian movie is advertised as a satire of it, I pay attention. Bonus points for inspiring a Bob Fosse production.
If you've seen one, you can guess what the other's about: a team of safecrackers. Oh, we don't get a half hour without dialog this time; that's even harder to pull off in a comedy. What we do get is one act of incompetence after another, generally by the crooks. Familiar actors include Vittorio Gassman (Bruno in Il Sorpasso) and Claudia Cardinale as a subplot love interest.
If you've seen one, you can guess what the other's about: a team of safecrackers. Oh, we don't get a half hour without dialog this time; that's even harder to pull off in a comedy. What we do get is one act of incompetence after another, generally by the crooks. Familiar actors include Vittorio Gassman (Bruno in Il Sorpasso) and Claudia Cardinale as a subplot love interest.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
The Train (1964)
I'm a little surprised at myself for having associated John Frankenheimer only with The Manchurian Candidate when I had also seen Birdman of Alcatraz and Seven Days in May. These three movies came consecutively, followed by The Train. Quite a streak early in his directorial career. It probably helped to have Burt Lancaster in most of them.
Based loosely on a true story from near the end of World War II, TT begins with Colonel Franz von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) seizing dozens of classic paintings from a Parisian museum. The curator appeals to railroad-affiliated members of the Resistance to stop their train -- without damaging the cargo -- before it reaches Germany. Since Allied forces are expected soon, the cell of railway inspector Paul Labiche (Lancaster) decides that it only has to slow things down. But that's not as easy as it sounds when the German soldiers get increasingly suspicious that their "bad luck" is sabotage.
Based loosely on a true story from near the end of World War II, TT begins with Colonel Franz von Waldheim (Paul Scofield) seizing dozens of classic paintings from a Parisian museum. The curator appeals to railroad-affiliated members of the Resistance to stop their train -- without damaging the cargo -- before it reaches Germany. Since Allied forces are expected soon, the cell of railway inspector Paul Labiche (Lancaster) decides that it only has to slow things down. But that's not as easy as it sounds when the German soldiers get increasingly suspicious that their "bad luck" is sabotage.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
Gun Crazy (1950)
In light of last year's Trumbo, AFI is playing a bunch of movies with screenplays written by Dalton Trumbo. Thanks to the blacklist, GC and some others did not put him in the credits at the time. (I wonder how Millard Kaufman felt about being Trumbo's front.)
From early childhood, Bart (played by John Dall in adulthood and up-and-comer Russ Tamblyn at 14) loves guns but not violence against living things. His obsession still gets him in trouble, particularly when he burglarizes a closed gun shop. After special education and service in the U.S. Army, presumably without seeing battle, he meets a female sharpshooter in a traveling show, Annie (Peggy Cummins). He matches her skill and joins the show until they both have a falling-out with the manager. Despite multiple warnings against it, Bart marries Annie, unaware that she has a history of armed robbery and will pressure him into it to support her greed.
From early childhood, Bart (played by John Dall in adulthood and up-and-comer Russ Tamblyn at 14) loves guns but not violence against living things. His obsession still gets him in trouble, particularly when he burglarizes a closed gun shop. After special education and service in the U.S. Army, presumably without seeing battle, he meets a female sharpshooter in a traveling show, Annie (Peggy Cummins). He matches her skill and joins the show until they both have a falling-out with the manager. Despite multiple warnings against it, Bart marries Annie, unaware that she has a history of armed robbery and will pressure him into it to support her greed.
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Cloud Atlas (2012)
The Wachowskis have not done a great job of sustaining their directorial popularity in the wake of The Matrix, with V for Vendetta being their one other major hit as writers and producers. This may explain why they decided to try something different, adapting a David Mitchell bestseller into one of the most expensive indies yet, sharing credit with German cult director Tom Twyker (Run Lola Run).
Specifically, we get six alternating subplots across different settings and even genres. In 1849, an American aristocrat visiting a Pacific island contends with illness, envy of his wealth, and a burgeoning sympathy toward slaves. In 1936, an aspiring British composer works on "The Cloud Atlas Sextet," but his history of gay sex limits his options for exposure. In 1973, an investigative journalist follows a murder trail toward a horrible San Francisco corporate conspiracy. In the present, an elderly British publisher learns the ups and downs of working with a thuggish author, followed by the untrustworthiness of his own brother. In 2144, South Korea has been manufacturing female clones for servitude, and one with the telltale serial number 451 rebels. In 2321, an unspecified disaster has led to Hawaii being divided into primitive tribes and a handful of elite technocrats, and one of the latter needs assistance from the former.
What draws these subplots together? Lots of little things: a recurring birthmark on focal characters, parallel moments in their lives, actual references to the past. Oh, and more than a dozen actors play multiple roles, among them Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon, and Wachowski staple Hugo Weaving, hinting at reincarnations. If there's a single overarching theme to the whole thing, it's championing resistance against tyranny -- which, come to think of it, describes the other Wachowski movies I know.
Specifically, we get six alternating subplots across different settings and even genres. In 1849, an American aristocrat visiting a Pacific island contends with illness, envy of his wealth, and a burgeoning sympathy toward slaves. In 1936, an aspiring British composer works on "The Cloud Atlas Sextet," but his history of gay sex limits his options for exposure. In 1973, an investigative journalist follows a murder trail toward a horrible San Francisco corporate conspiracy. In the present, an elderly British publisher learns the ups and downs of working with a thuggish author, followed by the untrustworthiness of his own brother. In 2144, South Korea has been manufacturing female clones for servitude, and one with the telltale serial number 451 rebels. In 2321, an unspecified disaster has led to Hawaii being divided into primitive tribes and a handful of elite technocrats, and one of the latter needs assistance from the former.
What draws these subplots together? Lots of little things: a recurring birthmark on focal characters, parallel moments in their lives, actual references to the past. Oh, and more than a dozen actors play multiple roles, among them Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon, and Wachowski staple Hugo Weaving, hinting at reincarnations. If there's a single overarching theme to the whole thing, it's championing resistance against tyranny -- which, come to think of it, describes the other Wachowski movies I know.
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Force of Evil (1948)
There's something fun about watching fare by blacklisted directors. I feel like I'm sticking it to the McCarthyists whenever I do. And heck, Jules Dassin's Rififi is a contender for my favorite film noir. Why not try Abraham Polonsky's best-known work in the same genre, favored by Martin Scorsese?
Attorney Joe Morse (John Garfield) plays a key role in maintaining a numbers racket. If that doesn't sound like a major crime to you, then you miss the bigger picture. When he gets involved in his client's plan to force all the rackets in New York City to unite under one head or simply fold, it means strong-arming his estranged brother Leo (Thomas Gomez), among others, by any means at his disposal. Joe falls for Leo's secretary, who finds herself drawn to Joe in turn despite not approving his style. But for all the money he stands to make, Joe retains enough humanity to stop feeling comfortable with the arrangements....
Attorney Joe Morse (John Garfield) plays a key role in maintaining a numbers racket. If that doesn't sound like a major crime to you, then you miss the bigger picture. When he gets involved in his client's plan to force all the rackets in New York City to unite under one head or simply fold, it means strong-arming his estranged brother Leo (Thomas Gomez), among others, by any means at his disposal. Joe falls for Leo's secretary, who finds herself drawn to Joe in turn despite not approving his style. But for all the money he stands to make, Joe retains enough humanity to stop feeling comfortable with the arrangements....
Le Notti Bianche (1957)
This is the second foreign romantic drama based on a Dostoevsky novel that I've seen, in this case White Nights. It reportedly takes a number of key liberties with the source material, but that doesn't stop fans of the book from enjoying the movie.
In an unspecified city in winter, lonesome outsider Mario (Marcello Mastroiani) takes interest in stranger Natalia (Maria Schell, impressively shedding her Austrian accent) after seeing her stand on a bridge crying. She gives him highly mixed signals. At first I thought she was just painfully shy, but it turns out that she's been waiting night after night for an unnamed love interest (Jean Marais) whom she half-believes will never return. That rather complicates the decision of how much of a chance to give Mario, who turns down other suitors for her.
In an unspecified city in winter, lonesome outsider Mario (Marcello Mastroiani) takes interest in stranger Natalia (Maria Schell, impressively shedding her Austrian accent) after seeing her stand on a bridge crying. She gives him highly mixed signals. At first I thought she was just painfully shy, but it turns out that she's been waiting night after night for an unnamed love interest (Jean Marais) whom she half-believes will never return. That rather complicates the decision of how much of a chance to give Mario, who turns down other suitors for her.
Sunday, May 1, 2016
The Yearling (1946)
The AFI Silver Theater is celebrating Gregory Peck's 100th birthday with a festival. I had already seen most of his promising features, but this one seemed worth an 11:30 AM Saturday viewing, even if my dad had better things to do.
The titular animal does not actually show up until an hour in -- unless you interpret the title to refer to main boy Jody. In late 19th-century Florida, he badly wants a pet woodland critter of some kind, but his subsistence-farming parents, especially mother Orry (Jane Wyman), forbid it. After a series of what you might call minor adventures, father Ezra, a.k.a. Penny(?!), finds it necessary to kill a doe, and Jody talks his parents into letting him adopt the fawn left behind, partly as a sort of returned favor. He dubs the fawn Flag, without appearing to realize how appropriate "Flag the Stag" would become. This being a cinematic adaptation from a book, you can guess that Jody will not get to keep Flag as long as he likes....
The titular animal does not actually show up until an hour in -- unless you interpret the title to refer to main boy Jody. In late 19th-century Florida, he badly wants a pet woodland critter of some kind, but his subsistence-farming parents, especially mother Orry (Jane Wyman), forbid it. After a series of what you might call minor adventures, father Ezra, a.k.a. Penny(?!), finds it necessary to kill a doe, and Jody talks his parents into letting him adopt the fawn left behind, partly as a sort of returned favor. He dubs the fawn Flag, without appearing to realize how appropriate "Flag the Stag" would become. This being a cinematic adaptation from a book, you can guess that Jody will not get to keep Flag as long as he likes....
The Champ (1931)
This seems to be a must among fans of '30s dramas. I had seen only one other King Vidor film and did not have a good mental picture of Wallace Beery yet. Why not see what garnered an Oscar for the latter and a nomination for the former?
In the area of Tijuana, Andy "Champ" Purcell talks the talk about getting back into prizefighting, but his habits of gambling and especially drinking get in the way of opportunities (think of druggie Dicky in The Fighter). He probably wasn't like this back when the divorce court granted him custody of his son, Dink (Jackie Cooper), who's about nine. Dink and Champ love each other in spite of frustration, but after Dink's mother Linda happens to catch sight of him, she and her husband put pressure on Champ to cede custody to her. They'd have a good case, seeing as, beyond financial issues, Champ places Dink in rather kid-unfriendly environments and leaves something wanting in the discipline department.
In the area of Tijuana, Andy "Champ" Purcell talks the talk about getting back into prizefighting, but his habits of gambling and especially drinking get in the way of opportunities (think of druggie Dicky in The Fighter). He probably wasn't like this back when the divorce court granted him custody of his son, Dink (Jackie Cooper), who's about nine. Dink and Champ love each other in spite of frustration, but after Dink's mother Linda happens to catch sight of him, she and her husband put pressure on Champ to cede custody to her. They'd have a good case, seeing as, beyond financial issues, Champ places Dink in rather kid-unfriendly environments and leaves something wanting in the discipline department.
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