Unbroken (2014)

For Veterans Day, I picked the first new-to-me war movie I found on Netflix. I did not know that it was directed by Angelina Jolie and co-written by the Coen Brothers, but those facts would have increased my curiosity.

In 1943, Olympic runner Louie Zamperini (Jack O'Connell) is serving as a U.S. Air Force captain when his plane gives out over the Pacific. For nearly half the movie, he and the other two crash survivors, Phil (Domnhall Gleeson) and Mac (Finn Witrock), are holding out on rafts. Then they get taken as POWs, which is a worse situation in some ways, particularly under the war crime-level command of "the Bird" (Miyavi).

The Platform (2019)

Of the scary Netflix movies recommended to me that I hadn't seen, this was one of the most highly rated. I opted not to save it for the end of the month because it's not a horror in the usual sense. It presents a nightmarish scenario, yes, but the protagonist is rarely in imminent mortal peril.

The Vertical Self-Management Center, also known as the Pit (a closer translation of the native Spanish title, El Hoyo), consists of stacked cells for two prisoners each, with a big hole in the floors/ceilings for a floating platform. Those on Floor 1 (the top) are treated to a sumptuous feast, Floor 2 gets their leftovers, and so on down the line. Once a month, everyone is gassed unconscious and wakes up on another floor (the number shown on the wall), seemingly chosen at random, albeit with the same cellmate -- if they both survive.

Dishonored (1931)

This movie has a lot of the same people involved as the next year's Shanghai Express. Maybe that's why it was recommended to me. At any rate, I moved it up in my queue because it probably won't be streaming anywhere soon.

In 1915 Vienna, Marie (Marlene Dietrich) has turned to prostitution to make ends meet after her husband died in the war. When the Austrian Secret Service chief (Gustav von Seyffertitz) overhears her declare that she fears neither life nor death, he tests her patriotism and then invites her to become a spy a la Mata Hari. In particular, she is to seduce suspected Russian mole Col. von Hindau (Warner Oland) until she can intercept his intel. His correspondent, Col. Kranau (Victor McLaglen), is a tougher nut to crack....

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)

Looks like this is my first boxing movie viewing in two and a half years. Can't say I missed the subgenre, but this one has a little something extra to interest me: basis on the life of a real boxer I'd already heard of. Not that I could have told you anything else about him.

Rocco "Rocky" Barbello (Paul Newman) is a fairly violent Brooklyn thief. Fellow con Frankie (Robert Loggia) suggests that he box for money. Rocky does so only in desperation, adopting the last name "Graziano" to hide his criminal record. Once he realizes how far he can go without losing a match, he learns to love it. But his past threatens to catch up to him, particularly when Frankie tries bribery and then blackmail to get him to take a dive.

Shoeshine (1946)

In its homeland, this is called Sciuscià, a cognate, because that is what the shoeshiners say when trying to get customers. I guess post-WWII Italy had a pretty strong American presence. Regardless, shoeshine has vanishingly little to do with the plot. It's merely how homeless 15-year-old Pascuale (Franco Interlenghi) and younger housed but impoverished pal Giuseppe (Rinaldo Smordoni) make money early on, before things start happening. Perhaps the point is that they occupy a humble place in society. And/or that they soon come to wish they had stuck with their first job, which might have sufficed if they weren't saving up for a horse.

After unwittingly taking part in a scam, Pascuale and Giuseppe go to separate five-boy cells in juvie. Since one of the uncaught deliberate criminals is Giuseppe's older brother, Attilio (uncredited, like most of the cast), the duo agrees not to spill. This gets harder when Pascuale worries about Giuseppe's well-being, but Giuseppe is not apt to be grateful, or even forgiving, for being spared at the expense of Attilio. How well can friendship survive in this environment, even with the prospect of escape?

Public Enemies (2009)

This sat on my list for a long time before my friend and I were looking at possibilities. The same friend had rewatched Road to Perdition with me, so I'm not surprised he wanted another gangster flick that briefly includes Frank Nitti (Bill Camp herein).

As the title implies, the story concerns multiple notorious criminals, but they've been pared down quite a bit from the Bryan Burrough novel. Most of the focus is on John Dillinger (Johnny Depp in one of his last normal-looking roles), starting with his 1933 arrival at -- and immediate break from -- Indiana State Prison, so he's already notorious. When he's not committing armed robbery or having standoffs with law enforcement, he's wooing one Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) from the moment he lays eyes on her. The other major focal character is FBI Agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), in charge of the pursuit.

White Nights (1985)

The title refers to the far-northern phenomenon of sunlight way into summer nights. Sure enough, the story takes place in that setting, and while the white nights themselves are not important to the plot, they serve as a symbol of confusion and frustration. I had not known this when I saved the DVD for the start of daylight saving time.

Famed first-generation American dancer Nikolai (Mikhail Baryshnikov himself) has a stroke of bad luck when his malfunctioning commercial plane (I assume this was never an in-flight movie) has to make an emergency stop in the USSR, from which he defected. In his unsuccessful haste to hide his identity, he does not brace himself for a rough landing and thus gets injured and knocked out. When he wakes, he's not in prison in the conventional sense, but neither is he allowed to go much of anywhere unless he agrees with the proposal of Col. Chaiko (Jerzy Skolimowski) to dance for Soviets again. In the meantime, in addition to being on camera, he's supervised by roommates Raymond (Gregory Hines), a stage actor and tap dancer who defected in the opposite direction; and Darya (Isabella Rosselini's U.S. debut), Raymond's wife. Can Nikolai persuade them to take the risks needed to let him flee, bearing in mind that the KGB could very well claim he died from his crash injuries?

3-Iron (2004)

On one hand, I've grown leery of R-rated Korean features, which aren't all as watchable as Parasite. OTOH, writer-director Kim Ki-duk did a peaceful yet adequately engaging job with Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring. And 2004 was a great year for cinema in my book.

In a modern South Korean city, a possibly homeless young man, Tae-suk (Jae Hee), puts flyers on doors, picks the locks of those that leave the flyers on long enough to suggest that the residents are on vacation, and then bums around before a hasty getaway. The Netflix description makes it sound like a slice-of-life that never goes anywhere, but that would be misleading. The plot starts to progress when he stumbles on a former photography model, Sun-hwa (Lee Seung-yeon), who decides to run away with him from her physically abusive husband, Min-gyu (Kwon Hyuk-ho). She's content to go everywhere with Tae-suk -- until they discover a corpse and become implicated. And Min-gyu has an in with a dirty cop....

The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935)

This was an Academy Best Picture nominee starring Gary Cooper, but neither of those details drew me in as much as the peculiar title. What makes it more peculiar is that the film focuses almost equally on three Bengal lancers. It turns out that the title was lifted from a book with a different plot and characters, much like Blade Runner was.

Cooper plays Lieutenant McGregor, a Canadian serving in the British Army in colonial India. He becomes well acquainted with two lieutenants new to his unit: Forsythe (Franchot Tone) and Stone (Richard Cromwell), the latter being the estranged son of their colonel (Guy Standing) and newly commissioned. Alas, Stone has yet to cultivate sufficiently responsible behavior and ends up a hostage for incipient rebel leader Mohammed Khan (Douglas Dumbrille), who overestimates the colonel's sentimentality. Fortunately, McGregor is only so ruly himself and can persuade Forsythe....

The Prisoner (1955)

This has nothing to do with the hit '67 TV series of the same title. That said, it is another British program in which nobody has a given name and the setting is ambiguous. All we know for sure is that the nation used to be under Nazi rule and is now under communist rule.

A cardinal (Alec Guinness) gets arrested on the dubious charge of treason against the regime, which, of course, will put him on trial only when he's almost certain to confess. He is not subjected to physical torture, whether because his captors want to be more civil than that, couldn't hope to break someone the Nazis couldn't that way, or really don't want to risk martyring him in the public eye. Instead, his interrogator (Jack Hawkins) takes a faux-friendly approach, made all the more possible by their past acquaintance. It takes longer than the superiors like, but the interrogator is determined to find a chink in the emotional armor.

Paddington 2 (2018)

Until a few months ago, I had never read a Paddington Bear book in my life, so I brought no nostalgia to this viewing. Ordinarily, I'm leery of live-action adaptations of kiddie books with CG animal stars (Christopher Robin being an exception because Disney already had practice with the franchise), but this one didn't get a Stuart Little 2 reception. Indeed, it was astoundingly successful. Would I be about the only reviewer not to love it?

The possibly adolescent cub (Ben Whishaw) has been living with his adoptive human family, the Browns (Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Madeleine Harris, Samuel Joslin, and Julie Walters as the housekeeper), in London for some time now, but he hasn't forgotten his Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) back in Peru. He hopes to earn enough for a unique antique book for her birthday present. Alas, he spills its whereabouts to neighbor Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant), who secretly knows its value as a treasure map and has the skills to steal it and get away via disguise and stage magic. What's worse, Paddington, in his attempt to stop the unidentified thief, ends up taking the fall and going to prison. The Browns do what they can to find the real thief, while Paddington makes do with a different sector of humanity for company.

Hunger (2008)

I knew going in that this would be gloomy. Nevertheless, I was interested to see something directed by Steve McQueen (the British one) other than 12 Years a Slave. He really hasn't done many feature-length films, before or since.

The first spoken line gives a good idea of the plot: "I will not wear the uniform of a criminal." In the early '80s, prisoners in Northern Ireland identifying with the Irish Republican Army want to be officially recognized as political prisoners and given more humane conditions. When the "dirty" protest doesn't work, they resort to -- you guessed it -- a hunger strike.

Lonely Are the Brave (1962)

In the 1980 Sam Shepherd play True West, aspiring screenwriter Lee calls this the last great western, but his description makes it sound awkward if not ridiculous. When I noticed that the movie was popular anyway, I decided to find out whether he was accurate or just foolish as usual.

In modern New Mexico, cowhand Jack (Kirk Douglas) deliberately goes to jail in order to bust out a friend, Paul (Michael Kane), only to find that Paul would rather stay. Jack breaks loose within the day and flees to the mountains on horseback while authorities, most notably Sheriff Johnson (Walter Matthau), hunt him.

The Irishman (2019)

I knew I wasn't going to love this. Martin Scorsese fare is rarely even moderately enjoyable to me. But it is one of the most championed contenders for Academy Best Picture this year, and as a Netflix original, it's already available for streaming. I started early in the evening, because at 209 minutes, it's the longest mainstream feature in decades.

Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a Philadelphia trucker, gets into '50s organized crime, including "painting houses" with the blood of the homeowners, despite quiet disapproval by his wife and daughter (played in adulthood by Anna Paquin). After helping him escape a charge, his defense attorney (Ray Romano) introduces him to crime lord Russell Buffalino (an oddly placid Joe Pesci), who in turn connects him with Teamsters Union pres Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). Sheeran and Hoffa stay close for about 20 years, which is not a particularly good thing when the latter is infamous....

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983)

I knew going in that this would not be a jolly holiday flick. It's about prisoners of war, after all. Still, I could think of no more appropriate season to watch it.

In 1942, British Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence (Tom Conti) remains a leader among the POWs at a camp in Indonesia, serving as a bilingual liaison relatively amiable to the Japanese officers, especially the otherwise harsh Sergeant Hara (Takeshi Kitano), who says the title. But neither Lawrence nor Hara is as focal as rebellious new POW Major Celliers (David Bowie) or even Captain Yonoi (Ryuchi Sakamoto, doubling as the composer), who, for all his strictness, tends to show Celliers favor, apparently for a reason he'd rather not admit to himself....

A Perfect World (1993)

Heh, when I moved this up in my queue, I didn't know that the story would start on Halloween and end a few days later. That detail is too minor for a summary on Netflix or even Wikipedia. I just wanted something that wasn't horror, even if it is a bit of a thriller. And it's one of director Clint Eastwood's own faves.

In JFK-era Texas, Butch (Kevin Costner) and Terry (Keith Szarabajka) bust out of prison. Thanks to incautious if not unhinged behavior on Terry's part, they see fit to take a hostage, eight-year-old Phillip (T.J. Lowther). Their plan is to keep him until they drive to another state, quite some distance away. Red (Eastwood), a Texas Ranger, starts hunting for them, reluctantly bringing along criminologist Sally (Laura Dern) and FBI marksman Bobby (Bradley Whitford).

The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)

I saw the 1934 adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas classic some years ago, inspired by its excerpt in V for Vendetta. Although I enjoyed it (and seeing why V did too), later I could remember little more than the basic outline: A wrongfully imprisoned swordsman gets revenge. Perhaps a second take, especially one for a modern audience, would stay with me better.

Illiterate sailor Edmond (Jim Caviezel) helps his dying captain pay an emergency visit to Elba during the exile of Napoleon (Alex Norton). The price of treatment by the local physician is Edmond's agreement to stealthily deliver a letter, which Napoleon claims is innocent. Upon returning to France, Edmond is charged with treason—thanks not to an honest misunderstanding regarding the mail, as he first believes, but to treachery by three acquaintances. During his long stay at the Château d'If, priestly inmate Faria (Richard Harris in one of his last roles) secretly teaches him in many ways and then helps him escape and find a vast hidden treasure. Edmond reappears in civilized society in the guise of the titular count, observing his old enemies and plotting their downfalls....

Each Dawn I Die (1939)

Oh look, James Cagney in prison. Sound familiar? Well, despite what you'd expect, he's innocent of the major charges this time. The setup reminds me pretty strongly of Alfred Hitchcock. No wonder I put it on my queue.

Frank Ross (Cagney) is a muckraker who hits a nerve when investigating a candidate for governor (Victor Jory, state unstated). Soon he gets framed for a lethal DUI and has inadequate legal counsel. In prison, he makes an unlikely ally of infamous lifer "Hood" Stacey (George Raft). After Ross passes up an opportunity to rat on Stacey, the latter makes a tempting offer: do rat on him and thus give him the chance to escape from the courtroom with some outside help; in return, Stacey would use his connections to track down Ross's framers.

The Hill (1965)

No, it has nothing to do with Capitol Hill or any other famous real hill. I chose this film partly because I hadn't seen any work of Sidney Lumet's in a while, especially his early work, and partly because I hadn't seen any Sean Connery in a while. Neither is known for much in the subgenre in question.

The setting is a British Army prison camp in the Libyan Desert in World War II. Soldiers who committed various offenses wind up here, and depending on the judgment of the staff sergeant on duty, they may have to run repeatedly over a manmade hill. The first half to two-thirds of the movie has little plot beyond the general conflict between guards and prisoners, but when one climber drops dead (as summaries keep mentioning before long), the rest get restless in their desire to make the harshest screw answer for it, and the authorities bicker over how to handle the potential riot.

There Was a Crooked Man... (1970)

The '70s were a strange time for westerns. After late '60s classics like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Wild Bunch, and the works of Sergio Leone, there must have been some pressure to try things a little differently. We got the kooky, offbeat Little Big Man and the contrary, brothel-focused McCabe & Mrs. Miller, both rather popular but neither up my alley. And sometimes quirks came together with R ratings, as in this, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's only effort at the genre.

Paris Pitman, Jr. (Kirk Douglas -- don't worry; I'll take a long break from him after this review) goes to a prison from which, according to an elderly cellmate known as the Missouri Kid (Burgess Meredith), no one has ever escaped with his life. But Paris has a lot of loot well hidden and would hate to let it go to waste. The first warden (Martin Gabel) offers to free Paris for 50% of it, but a more conscientious replacement (Henry Fonda) isn't on board. Paris uses the promise of riches to enlist the help of all his cellmates to escape, including a pathetic youth on death row (Michael Blodgett); a lazy swindler (John Randolph) and his effete, resentful, but loyal and talented assistant (Hume Cronyn); a strong, silent, seeming simpleton (C.K. Yang); and a violent drunkard (Warren Oates).