July 17, 2008

"A Fistful of Dollars" Started Sergio Leone's Masterpiece Trilogy of Spaghetti Westerns

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

A Fistful of Dollars (Per un pugno di dollari in Italian) – 4 Stars (Excellent)

Is it possible for an excellent, groundbreaking film in a specific genre to be overlooked at award ceremonies? Absolutely, and a perfect example is "A Fistful of Dollars" that gave rise to what we commonly identify today as "the spaghetti Western".

A Fistful of Dollars was the first of Director Sergio Leone's masterpiece trilogy that would be followed by "For A Few Dollars More" and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly". It was Leone who realized that the American-made Westerns of the 1950s had become nothing more or less than housing developments designed with a cookie-cutter pattern of staleness.

Leone's answer was to shoot the film as if he was orchestrating an opera. The result would become the model for many Westerns to come, featuring his trademark taciturn characters, precise framing, extreme close-ups and the haunting music of Ennio Morricone.

All of this would give rise to "The Man With No Name" (Clint Eastwood), who was originally referred to as "Joe" in A Fistful of Dollars, but became The Man With No Name in the sequels.

I am very boffo on this film and for good reason. The combination of Leone's direction is excellent given Morricone's music, the cinematography by Massimo Dallamano and Federico Larraya, film editing by Roberto Cinquini and Alfonso Santacana, and sound by Elio Pacella. A Fistful of Dollars was shot in the Spanish province of Almeria.

Despite its credentials, A Fistful of Dollars would win only one award—the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists' Silver Ribbon for the Best Score by Ennio Morricone. You could see this film for the musical score alone and come away very impressed.

Released in 1964, A Fistful of Dollars would not make its American debut until 1967. The film's arrival here was delayed when "Yojimbo" screenwriters Akira Kurosawa and Ryuzo Kikushima sued for breach of copyright and won, receiving 15% of the film's worldwide gross and exclusive distribution rights for Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Kurosawa said later he made more money off of this project than he did on Yojimbo, which was released 3 years earlier. The screenplay was written by A. Bonzzoni, Victor Andres Catena and Sergio Leone.

The story is about a gunfighter (Clint Eastwood) who comes to a small border town and offers his services to two rival gangs—the Rojos and the Baxters.

The Rojos include the dangerous Ramon (Gian Maria Volonte), Esteban (Sieghardt Rupp) and Don Benito (Antonio Prieto), Ramon's girlfriend Marisol (Marianne Koch), Rubio (Benito Stefanelli) and Chico (Mario Brega). The Baxters include John (Wolfgang Lukschy), his wife Consuelo (Margarita Lozano) and a bevy of additional lesser-light banditos on both sides.

The bell-ringer in the film, Juan De Dios (Raf Baldassarre) warns the gunfighter, "you'll get rich here, or you'll be killed." The gunfighter later acknowledges that the "crazy bell-ringer was right, there's money to be made in a place like this."

Neither gang is aware of The Man With No Name's ploy to play one against the other, each thinking they are using him against their rival, but the gunfighter will outwit them both.

Along the way he will personally kill at least 14 of them, get the Rojos to completely obliterate the rest of the Baxter gang, rescue the kidnapped wife and return her to her family so they can safely escape, rescue the innkeeper Silvanito (Jose Calvo), and eliminate Ramon Rojo in a classic showdown worthy of any Western movie every made and too good to share here.

Another actor to watch in this film is Piripero the undertaker (Joseph Egger), who provides the avenue for The Man With No Name's escape when he is incapable of doing so on his own.

The genius of Sergio Leone is seen in one of the film's earliest scenes. As the gunfighter rides slowly into town, 3 Baxter gang members fire shots to scare the mule he is riding. After some food and whiskey, the gunfighter confronts his tormentors with this dialog:

"I don't think it's nice, you laughin'. You see, my mule don't like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you're laughing at him. Now if you apologize, like I know you're going to, I might convince him that you really didn't mean it."

Properly incensed and challenged, 4 key Baxter gang members draw to fire and are cut down in a blink of an eye by The Man With No Name.

While the dialog and action in this scene are excellent, Leone's direction is even more so and here is why: In American films, when a cowboy was shot, one camera was ALWAYS focused on the shooter and a split second later, another camera cut to the victim. Leone captured the scene with the camera over Eastwood's shoulder, so the moviegoer could vicariously witness the shooting as if he was doing the shooting.

Leone's genius was as powerful today—44 years later—as an interactive web site on the Internet, both of which did not exist in 1964. No wonder it is so easy for moviegoers today to experience his genius.

A Fistful of Dollars is too good not to experience. Like so many films that are expected to be nothing and become classics in movie history, the role of The Man With No Name is littered with big names who did not play the role when an unknown like Clint Eastwood did.

This list includes Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Charles Bronson and Richard Harrison. Harrison would later acknowledge that "maybe my greatest contribution to cinema was not doing A Fistful of Dollars and recommending Clint for the part."

Eastwood had been in the television series "Rawhide" prior to being tapped for the role. He helped build the character of The Man With No Name by buying black jeans form a sport shop on Hollywood Boulevard, buying the hat he wore from a Santa Monica wardrobe firm, and buying his trademark black cigars from a Beverly Hills store. He cut the cigars into thirds to give them a more distinctive look.

Leone was reportedly taken with Eastwood's distinctive style, commenting in Italian that "I like Clint Eastwood because he has only two facial expressions: one with the hat, and one without it."

Like another tremendously successful actor Tom Hanks, Eastwood knew how to instinctively exude enormous charisma that was never evident in his low-key style. Any real man in America would be proud to strap on The Man With No Name's gun belt and pistol. Is A Fistful of Dollars a guy film? Certainly.

Leone did not direct the first spaghetti western ever made, but his was the first one to receive a major international release, not to mention the fact that it launched Clint Eastwood on an incredibly successful career as one of Hollywood's most popular, profitable and bankable actors and directors ever.

Read more of my movie reviews on action adventure films, including:

"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" with Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow

"Pirates of the Caribbean: "Dead Man's Chest" with Johnny Depp as the perfect pirate

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" with Johnny Depp

"The Departed" with megastars Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon

December 14, 2007

"A Lot Like Love" Is Light Enough to Fly Away and Never Be Missed

A Lot Like Love – 2 Stars (Average)

"A Lot Like Love" chronicles the indecision of two young adults who are misguided and muddled in both their careers and love life. They haul off and do nothing with themselves and then wonder why they are not happy. No wonder they are confused about love.

Perhaps they represent too many young adults today, bouncing around like a small metal ball in a pinball contest. Small in thought, small in words and small in deeds. Drifting, detached, uncommitted, meaningless and terribly out of touch with themselves and everyone around them.

This is Hollywood, of course, and so they do have unplanned sex that is more like buying a bologna sandwich, taking the wrapper off, eating it, throwing the wrapper away, and wondering what's for dinner.

The politically correct expression for this might be casual sex, but no one is laughing, least of all the participants.

Life is a pretty good deal to anyone who is paying attention; the two love boobs in this romantic comedy deserve each other. Of course they end up together in the end, that is the point of a romantic comedy, otherwise it would be romantic tragedy.

A Lot Like Love moves along at the same pace as its leading characters, Emily (Amanda Peet) and Oliver (Ashton Kutcher), slow to very slow.

It reminds me oddly enough of Max McGee's comment to his Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi. Lombardi liked to start every season with the fundamentals, so he would hold up a football on the first day of practice, look serious, and say, "Gentlemen, this is a football," to which McGee—the chief clown among the players, replied, "Uh, Coach, could you slow down a little. You're going too fast for us."

The script is the creation of award-winning writer Colin Patrick Lynch who has apparently done some good work, but this wasn't it.

At best, Lynch understands the teenybopper set as the only award for this film was the Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Rockstar Moment when Ashton Kutcher sang "I'll Be There for You". As tennyboppers are slaves to the latest fashion trends and pop music it comes as no great surprise.

The premise of A Lot Like Love, directed by Nigel Cole in an apparently somber moment, has two people meeting on a flight, toying with the idea of liking each other, and then dismissing the relationship only to keep bumping into each other over the next 7 years.

The movie has its comedic seconds, twists and turns, and a decent ending. What it lacks in substance among the characters it makes up for in slow development, which is why it was not a stunner at awards time and came off as an average effort.

Both Amanda Peet and Ashton Kutcher deserved a better script and character development. Peet must play a pothead with a fried brain and Kutcher plays a dipstick who lives at home with his mother and sister.

Eventually Peet's character ends up in a halter-top party dress and looks like a million bucks as long as she doesn't open her mouth. Kutcher's character is hopeless, it's a wonder he can find his way home. This was supposed to be a comedy, but it was not THAT funny.

See this film once, and if someone invites you back a second time, tell them you have already seen it five times and are sick of it.

Editor's Note: Read my reviews on kids and youth who are inspirational, including "Akeelah and the Bee", "Saint Ralph", "High School Musical" and "2 Movies About Young Adults That Prove Their Integrity and Substance".

 August 13, 2007

A Man for All Seasons - 4 Stars (Excellent)

A Man for All Seasons poses the question: What would a man sacrifice for his principles?

When King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) seeks approval to divorce his aging wife Catherine of Aragon who could not bear him a son, and marry his mistress Anne Boleyn, the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church stand in his way.

Henry VIII's new Chancellor of England and Cardinal--Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield)—stands in his way as well. Henry VIII wants Sir Thomas More's blessing in his action but does not get it as Sir Thomas More, a good Catholic and Cardinal, will not go along with such heresy.

More resigns as chancellor, seeking to live out his life as a private citizen, but Henry VIII will settle for nothing less than More's public approval of his headstrong course. Sir Thomas refuses to either endorse or denounce the King's action, and remains a man of principle.

Great effort is made to convince More to change his stance on Henry VIII's action. One of More's rivals, Thomas Cromwell (Leo McKern); another religious, Cardinal Wolsey (Orson Welles); and The Duke of Norfolk (Nigel Davenport) all take their turns at More.

One example is when More testifies before an inquiry committee and Norfolk attempts to persuade him to sign an oath of allegiance:

Norfolk: "Look, I'm not a scholar, and frankly I don't know whether the marriage was lawful or not—but Thomas, look at these names! You know these men! Can't you do as I did and come along with us for fellowship?"

More: "And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Heaven for doing according to your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing according to mine, will you come along with me—for fellowship?"

There are several lines by More that merit mention but there is not enough space to do so. Here is one of the best: "I think that when statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their country by a short route to chaos."

Sir Thomas More was a very smart and savvy—as well as principled—man.

Henry VIII gets every person of any consequence in England to sign his oath (the Act of Supremacy), endorsing his action, except Sir Thomas who will not sign, and remains silent as to the reason why he will not sign.

Cromwell is an English statesman and the chief minister to King Henry VIII. It is Cromwell who presides over King Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon in 1533 and Henry's subsequent break with the Roman Catholic Church.

When More proves himself to be loyal to King Henry VIII by not speaking out against him and also shows himself to be a loyal subject by not inciting rebellion, Cromwell appears to prosecute Sir Thomas out of personal spite.

In the end, Sir Thomas is the only person in England who will die for his principles, and commit himself to God for judgment. He is betrayed by an ambitious, lower level appointed attorney general, Richard (John Hurt), whose outright lie condemns Sir Thomas to be beheaded.

Sir Thomas More loses his head (no pun intended) but most importantly, not his soul. Sir Thomas is later canonized as Saint Thomas More by the Roman Catholic Church.

Henry VIII subsequently dies of syphilis, and the evil Thomas Cromwell who orchestrates Sir Thomas More's tragic demise is himself judged a traitor to England 5 years later and is also beheaded.

The riff subsequently leads to England's split from the Roman Catholic Church and the creation of the Anglican Church, the Church of England.

A Man for All Seasons does not deviate from the truth of Sir Thomas More's stance, and as such provides a role model for acting with right thinking and right motives, even at the cost of one's life.

What makes A Man for All Seasons even more impressive is that the plot for the movie is based on the true story of Sir Thomas More. Sir Thomas More was a scholar and statesman who became the leading humanist of the Renaissance Era.

A Man for All Seasons is a story about everything that is right in England and life (Sir Thomas More's integrity to his principles) and everything that is wrong in England and life (greed, avarice, lust, lying, cheating, stealing, the corruption of power, and the corruption of religious leaders).

A Man for All Seasons was writer Robert Bolt's greatest success, first as a play and then as the screenplay for its 1966 movie release following a successful Broadway run. Bolt's 16th Century period piece has exacting details of the era.

A Man for All Seasons would win 6 Oscars at the 1967 Academy Awards: Best Picture (Fred Zinnemann), Best Director (Fred Zinnemann), Best Writing (Robert Bolt), Best Actor (Paul Scofield), Best Cinematography (Ted Moore) and Best Costume Design (Elizabeth Haffenden and Joan Bridge).

The film also received Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Robert Shaw) and Best Supporting Actress (Wendy Hiller as Sir Thomas More's wife Alice).

In addition the movie garnered another 27 wins and 5 nominations, including Golden Globe wins for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor and a nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Interestingly, Charlton Heston lobbied heavily for the role of Sir Thomas More, but was not seriously considered. Richard Burton was offered the part and turned it down.

The producers originally wanted Laurence Olivier as Thomas More and Alec Guinness as Wosley, but Director Fred Zinnemann insisted on Paul Scofield and Orson Welles in the roles. The rest is history. Zinnemann obviously knew how to direct a great film and a huge box office success.

A River Runs Through It – 3 Stars (Good)

A River Runs Through It is based on a true story about the relationships in a family of two brothers with a Presbyterian minister for a father, a love for fly fishing they all enjoy, and a stay-at-home mom.

One brother—Norman Maclean (Craig Sheffer)—is good and grounded, and the other brother—Paul Maclean (Brad Pitt)—makes a lot of bad choices and pays for it in the end. They grow up in the beautiful wilderness of Montana after World War 1 and before the Great Depression.

Norman and Paul are pretty much the same before Norman goes to Dartmouth for six years and returns to become a teacher. Paul is a rebel at heart, a college graduate, a newspaper reporter, and a lover of liquor, gambling and women.

The film opens with Norman as an old man fly fishing by the river, cogitating on the life he has lived, recounting what happened, how it happened, why it happened, and why he felt helpless to change his brother's ultimate destiny.

In the end, Norman says "It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us." This movie is a guy's film if for no other reason than it is without doubt the greatest movie on fly fishing ever filmed. The scenes of the river are spectacular, and the scenery even more spectacular.

Mark Isham's original musical score and Richard Friedenberg's screenplay were both nominated for Oscars.

Even director Robert Redford picked up a Golden Globe nomination as Best Director. The real Norman Maclean wrote the story about his family that became the film. Redford spent years trying to gain the rights to Maclean's autobiographical novella.

First is the depressing helplessness of Paul's family to reach him emotionally and turn his life around. This forces us to watch a depressing story with a terrible ending.

Second is that you may go to sleep waiting for something to happen as the story develops slower than molasses sliding off of a stick.

Ultimately we are presented with Paul's warped values as he slowly and willfully self-destructs. All of the truly wonderful fly-fishing adventures do not offset the destructiveness of the script's end result.

This film is a story that focuses on warped values and teaches us little about what is really important in life (hint: it is not fly fishing).

About Schmidt – 1 Star (Terrible)

Jack Nicholson is Warren Schmidt in this movie, an actuary whose angry, miserable life is interrupted by retirement and the sudden death of his wife when he discovers his life has no real meaning, and he has no real relationships to comfort him.

Nicholson (as Schmidt) stays in character in this effort, but the 2 hour 5 minute movie is really about 2 hours and 3 minutes of being angry, miserable and negative, and then a moment of redemption at the end that comes from a 6-year-old boy in Tanzania he has sponsored.

This film has to be the worst film I have even seen Jack Nicholson in, and did absolutely nothing to enhance Nicholson's image as one of the great actors of our time. Unfortunately for Nicholson, he gets involved in this film which lacks a good story line, a good script and good direction (one might say, he struck out). None of this has any affect whatsoever on Hollywood as Nicholson was tapped for a Best Actor nomination (this is Jack, right?) and Kathy Bates for a Best Actress in a Supporting Role nomination; neither won an Oscar. Small justice for a lousy film.

"Akeelah and the Bee" Is a Great Film for Children and Families

Akeelah and the Bee – 3 Stars (Good)

Learn how an 11-year-old from African American girl from South Los Angeles (Akeelah Anderson, played by Keke Palmer) sets a goal to make it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee and win. Learn how she wins, and another 14-year-old Asian boy contestant wins as well. Learn how she becomes a friend of a Hispanic boy who is another contestant. Learn how and why she becomes such a good speller BEFORE she even realizes there is a national spelling competition.

This is a very well made movie that is a model for families and children to watch and learn about the importance of making goals, of thinking well of yourself, of courage, of determination, of taking chances, of standing up for yourself, of appreciating how others help make us successful, and of not isolating on your society-driven minority tag so you can become a real winner in the game of life.

Akeelah arises above the blame game, and she is 11 years old. How about you? Do you have what it takes to realize your potential through personal growth, and the help of others? (notice I did not say professional growth, and if you do not know the difference, please do yourself a service and find out).

Chris Farley in Lewis & Clark’s Time - Really Bad Flick, as bad as Austin Powers. I like Chris Farley as a comedian; some of his sketches on Saturday Night Live are classics. I am saddened that this film did nothing to showcase his real talent, and contribution to American comedy.

"An Affair to Remember" Rates as a Classic Romantic Drama

This 1957 film was nominated for 4 Academy Awards and has become one of the classic “romantic” films of all time, with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr as two shipboard passengers falling in love as both are “engaged” and headed for marriage.

Female movie buffs gravitate to this film like bees to honey, remembering the scene where the two smitten lovers agree—for their relationship to continue— to meet again in 6 months at the top of the Empire State Building. An accident prevents their fateful meeting, and their relationship appears all but over with no communication.

The big winner in 1957 was The Bridge on the River Kwai, with 8 nominations and 7 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director. Reviews of An Affair to Remember in 1957 ranged from an ideal romance to sensitive to silly.  In viewing this film, you have to remember it was made in 1957, and does not benefit from the technology and production techniques we enjoy today. Also, the word lovers had a totally different meaning in 1957 than it does today.

In An Affair to Remember, Cary and Deborah did not really even enjoy a single passionate kiss on film, much less make it into the sack. 

Evidence of just how popular this film is with women especially is the fact that 2 million DVD copies of An Affair to Remember were sold after Sleepless in Seattle was released in 1993, 36 years after the release of An Affair to Remember, that is called staying power (no pun intended).  Sleepless in Seattle was a remake of An Affair to Remember (if only for the rendezvous at the top of the Empire State Building), which was in turn a remake of the original Love Affair from 1939.

Not to be outdone, Love Affair (the third version) surfaced again in 1994 with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening; unfortunately for Beatty and Bening, the third and latest version did not enjoy nearly the same success as An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle.

July 30, 2007

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – 2 Stars (Average)

What would Hollywood be without its share of bitchy, catty, gaudy, outrageous and crazy films?

That is perhaps why Stephen Elliott wrote and directed "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert". It is rare when the writer/director of a film can pull it off without the film becoming average to a disaster.

Elliott now officially joins a list that is very long and includes Kimberly Peirce, Vanessa Parise, Peter Weir, Nancy Myers, Thomas Bezucha, Michael McGowan, Jared Hess, Robert Rodriguez and Paul Thomas Anderson.

Elliott's film has two drag-queens—Mitzi (Hugo Weaving) and Felicia (Guy Pearce)—and a transsexual—Bernadette (Terence Stamp)—contract to perform a drag show at a resort town in the remote Australian desert.

They head west from Sydney aboard a lavender bus called Priscilla (do not ask, just be patient and accepting). En route we get a snapshot of drag queens being bitchy, catty, gaudy and outrageous.

The "famous" thong dress was part of the wardrobe that won an Oscar at the Academy Awards for Best Costume Design by Lizzy Gardiner and Tim Chappel. The dress cost only $7. I did not even remember seeing this apparently famous dress in the movie.

ABBA fans will love this movie as the drag queens spent a lot of time lip-synching to ABBA's music. ABBA was a Swedish pop music group active from 1972 to 1982.

People who live alternative lifestyles probably loved Elliott's movie. I came away from this film feeling that the drag queens and transsexual were really unhappy people desperate for acceptance they could not find.

The Anchorman – 1 Star (Terrible)

Will Ferrell as a self-absorbed nightly news anchor who falls from grace. This movie is worse than bad, it is terrible beyond belief. There are a couple of laughs in it, but it is the absolute pit to watch. Farrell will never make it as an actor of note with these kinds of roles. The female lead is Christina Applegate (yes, that Christina—Kelly Bundy—of Married With Children), who is now grown and pretty darn attractive in spite of appearing in this awful choice of a movie. We will pray that both Ferrell and Applegate get better roles, although it looks like Ferrell is making a career out of stupid, crummy roles. He certainly has more talent than this movie shows. I would date Applegate, at least once, to see if she had more going for her than just looks; you certainly could not tell by her choice of movie roles.

Anger Management – 2 Stars (Average)

Anger Management brings young Adam Sandler together with old Jack Nicholson in a dippy comedy that borders on a romantic comedy without the dramatic bent. Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) is a businessman who is wrongly sentenced to an anger-management program following an incident on airline flight, but insult is added to injury when Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson), an aggressive, unorthodox therapist, becomes his live in roommate during rehabilitation. This film is dominated by Nicholson, has a script that begs for better lines, and becomes annoying after awhile, which is very similar to Nicholson's character in the movie. I am not altogether sure this movie would not have been better if the roles of Nicholson and Sandler were reversed. Imagine Nicholson as a problematic, anger-management reprobate (not hard to do) and Sandler as a recent psychiatrist grad about to deal with his first real patient (easy to do). I propose this because I felt very little chemistry between Nicholson and Sandler as they were cast. Anger Management is not a film I would see twice under any circumstances. Apparently a lot of judges felt the same way as awards were really absent for this effort.

August 14, 2009

Movie Review:

"Annie" Rates as One of the Most Uplifting, Harrowing and Positive Broadway Musicals Ever

Copyright © 2009 Ed Bagley

Annie – 4 Stars (Excellent)

"Annie" is certainly one of the most uplifting, harrowing and positive Broadway musicals in movie history.

Even if you did not see Annie as a moviegoer, you would recognize the key words to its award-winning signature song "Tomorrow": "The sun’ll come out Tomorrow, so you gotta hang on till Tomorrow. Come what may. Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya, Tomorrow. You’re only a day away".

Based on Thomas Meehan’s musical score of the enormously successful stage play, and Carol Sobieski’s screenplay, Annie was directed by John Houston in his first and last effort directing a movie musical. None of their talent was wasted.

A tip of the hat to Carol Sobieski’s effort with the screenplay, as I believe her feminine touch had much to do with the finished product. Annie is reminiscent of Harold Gray’s comic strip Annie, but there was nothing from the original comic strip that could have been used in the musical. Sobieski also wrote "Fried Green Tomatoes".

Set in the depths of The Great Depression of the 1930s, Annie’s life among orphans in miserable conditions changes dramatically when she is selected to spend a week in the mansion of Oliver Warbucks, a wealthy munitions industrialist driven only by making money and intent on polishing his capitalist image.

Annie (played superbly by Aileen Quinn) becomes an immediate attention-getter and an irresistible force by being simple and unassuming in a situation of opulence, power and influence dominated by Daddy Warbucks (Albert Finney is at his best in this role). She wins the hearts of everyone in the house plus Grace Farrell (Ann Reinking), Warbucks’ right-hand assistant.

Despite everyone’s growing affection for Annie’s childlike simplicity, Daddy Warbucks’ move to adopt Annie encounters a trauma as Annie is only concerned about eventually finding her parents so she can be part of a real family.

Enter the severe, unkind orphanage proprietor Miss Hannigan (an excellent character-acting performance by the one and only Carol Burnett), her brother and bad guy Rooster Hannigan (Tim Curry) and his girlfriend Lily St. Regis (Bernadette Peters). They conspire to kidnap Annie and Rooster tries to kill her. After some tense moments during great filmmaking, Daddy Warbucks’ capable enforcer Punjab (Geoffrey Holder) comes to the rescue.

Do not miss the role of fellow orphan Molly (played by Toni Ann Gisondi), the helicopter Daddy Warbucks flies around in, and the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. Both Carol Burnett and Aileen Quinn were nominated for Best Actress Golden Globe Awards.

The original stage play Annie premiered in 1977, won the Tony Award for the Best Musical the same year, and closed in 1983 after 2,377 performances. Annie hit the big screen in 1982, and remains a classic among Broadway’s musicals. The rights to Annie were sold in 1978 for $9.5 million ($30+ million in today’s dollars), a record that still stands.

Annie is everything that is good and right about a Broadway musical that becomes a movie. Annie teaches the adults around her about the importance of love, family, thoughtfulness, kindness, gratitude, understanding, optimism and hope, everything that was absent in her life as an orphan.

Antonia's Line – 2 Stars (Average)

A disappointment for me. The postscript said “Winner of the 1995 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and many other prestigious international honors, Antonia’s Line is the remarkable story of a woman who builds a new life with her daughter in a quiet Dutch village after World War II. Earthy, sexy, romantic and filled with laughter and warmth, it’s a joyous, multi-generational celebration of simple pleasures and enduring passions.”

Shoot, sounded good to me, but it just did not live up to the billing. There is a dark side to this film that the postscript fails to observe or mention. Yes, there is some sex, some romance, some horrific moments, some tender moments and some multi-generational moments.

There are two brutal rapes of children (which, of course, adds to the wholesomeness of a wannabe family film). There is downright cruelty mixed in with all the fun and laughter. There is a cold-blooded murder.

But perhaps the most distressing issue is a total lack of spiritual development by anyone in this film, including a priest, who manages to have sex with a young girl in a confessional (no wonder Hollywood gave this film an Academy Award).

People in this film have no belief in God, they are simply passing time until their end time. Whatever your religious beliefs, having some spiritual development is a really good idea in this world, and it is possible to have spiritual development without practicing a religion.

This would be a much more meaningful film if the person who wrote the script recognized the existence of a greater power than the passage of time, simple pleasures and enduring passions. I did not become a better person for seeing this film.

If you want to see a much better foreign film with subtitles than this Academy Award-winning film, try "The Chorus (Les Chroistes in French)", an absolutely superb film by first-time Director Christophe Barratier, which to my knowledge has won no awards whatsoever.

Apocalypto – 4 Stars (Excellent)

Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" shows the raw, violent face of the advanced Mayan civilization in its decline, with its rulers insisting that the key to continued prosperity is to build more temples and offer more human sacrifices to their Gods. The result is the story of innocent Mayans being viciously attacked and their communal way of life being destroyed to meet an insane desire. Killing your own has never been a good idea historically and is perhaps a lesson we need to take more seriously today.

Flint Sky and his progeny wish only to be left alone to pursue their destiny in a peaceful environment. Enter Zero Wolf (Raoul Trujillo) and his raiding party looking for victims to sacrifice to the Gods. Jaguar Paw and pregnant wife Seven (Dalia Hernandez) and their son Turtles Run (Carlos Emilio Baez) escape the attack. Jaguar Paw quickly finds a hiding place to keep his family safe, and then he returns to help fight off the attackers.

Many in his village are killed and many more are captured. This story is about how the captured Jaguar Paw can possibly survive the enforced march to an untimely death and then return to save his family. In the end, he must choose to greet the oncoming Spanish as their ships roll into the harbor, or retreat to the jungle and continue to live a hidden life.

Gibson is a film producer in Apocalypto, not an historian. Good grief, if I want exact history, I will read history books. Gibson brings history to life and does what no one else in Hollywood dares or cares to do.

Apocalypto is produced by Mel Gibson, Farhad Safinia and Bruce Davey, and written by Gibson and Safinia. It is worth the price of two tickets to see. I highly recommend it for adults. It is a not-so-subtle reminder of what civilization was and could be again. The fate of the Mayan civilization remains a mystery even today. We know that around 300 BC the Mayan calendar was invented in the Yucatan and was more exact than older calendars. We know the oldest Mayan temples in Central America were built around AD 200.

We do not know why the civilization collapsed but can only speculate that its fall was from within, sowing the seeds of its own destruction. Apocalypto picked up nominations for Academy Awards in Makeup, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. I thought the cinematography was spectacular, the close up shots of Jaguar Paw running for his very life, the look of fear in the faces of those innocents who were violently executed by their attackers, and the jungle with its teeming flora and fauna.

Apocalypto should have garnered more awards, but Mel Gibson's unfortunate drinking habit and run-in with a law enforcement officer did not endear him to the Hollywood community.

Gibson insisted on making the main sets based on actual buildings rather than computer-generated images. Three cheers for Gibson as I believe authenticity counts. I am so sick and tried of seeing stupid kung fu films showing actors jumping 150 feet straight up into the air and then fighting on a twig. I would like to see these wannabe clowns fighting Bruce Lee on his best day.

Was Apocalypto an epic? Absolutely. There was a main cast of 39 along with 700 extras. Ever wonder what a support cast is to a film? For Apocalypto there were 179 people in the Makeup Department, 67 in the Art Department, 50 in Sound, 36 in Special Effects, 153 in Visual Effects, 33 in Stunts, 80 in Camera and Electrical, 8 in Casting, 22 in Costume and Wardrobe, 18 in Editorial, 62 in Transportation and 100 more additional crew. Total support: 800+. Cost of the film: $40 million. Total box office and rental revenue figures: $72 million and counting.

Many of the speaking roles were by Mayan people who had never acted. The sick child who curses the hunting party as they lead the captives on a forced march to their death was played by a 7-year-old girl who lived in a dirt-floored hut in a village not unlike Jaguar Paw's. This was a haunting scene as the girl who was affected with the plague and untouchable upbraids the hunting party by saying "You fear me? So you should. All you who are vile. Would you like to know how you will die? The scared time is near. Beware the blackness of the day. Beware the man who brings the jaguar. Behold him reborn from mud and earth. For the one he takes you to will cancel the sky, and scratch out the earth. Scratch you out. And end your world. He's with us now. Day will be like night. And the man jaguar will lead you to your end."

You will cringe when Jaguar Paw's wife and young son face downing as she falls and must deliver her newborn facing certain death. In the end Jaguar Paw uses his wit and wisdom to claim the forest as his own. Get out and see Apocalypto. This is a film nearly everyone could benefit from seeing before they pass from this Earth. It will remind you of how fragile and perilous our life is.

Arsenic and Old Lace – 2 Stars (Average)

A drama critic discovers that his two elderly aunts are helping their male callers by poisoning them with arsenic and burying them in the basement. Their nephew who is mentally ill and apparently harmless, digs the graves in the basement and believes that he is President Teddy Roosevelt. This film, made in 1944 (the year I was born), is in black and white; color films had not yet been perfected. Arsenic and Old Lace stars Cary Grant in what must have been his first film, or one his first films, as his performance is not star quality. The film is funny and gives a real snapshot of how the movie business has changed in a half century.

The Aviator – 2 Stars (Average)

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Howard Hughes in a film that captures Hughes life from his arrival in Hollywood to the onset on his illness that forced him into seclusion for the rest of his life.

Hughes was a billionaire who also was a great visionary in the aviation field and a movie maker of some note. His obsessive-compulsive disorder shortened his contribution to the world, but not his impact.

The reason is The Aviator has a tough beginning, and is not nearly as likeable film as a film about Ray Charles, who is loved by any who have heard his music and story.

The Aviator had 11 Oscar nominations and five wins, including Blanchett's. Despite the performances by DiCaprio and Blanchett, I cannot give this film a 3 even though it is my intention to do so; the movie was simply too negative and too graphic in its presentation.

Before Sunset – 1 Star (Terrible)

Before Sunset is the story of a young couple who reunite 10 years later in Paris after an original fling. There is no story line in this movie, apparently they forgot to write one. Before Sunset follows the male and female leads walking around Paris and talking until they come back together. The production in this movie not really well done (despite being in Paris), and I was not always able to hear the audio. It is filled with what are supposed to be cute lines that get very tired after awhile. If this was meant to be a movie about relationships, it failed miserably.

August 7, 2007

Best in Show – 2 Stars (Average)

Director Christopher Guest teamed with Eugene Levy as writers for "Best in Show" that looks at the funnier side of the legendary Westminster Kennel Club's annual competition, otherwise known as a prestigious dog show.

Premiere voted the result as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies of All Time" in 2006. Premiere, an American and New York City-based film magazine, was published from 1987 to 2007 before becoming an online-only publication.

Traveling from Florida is Cookie Fleck (Catherine O'Hara) and Gerry Fleck (played by film writer Eugene Levy). Gerry literally has two left feet and Cookie apparently bedded hundreds of men on her way to marrying Gerry.

She meets many of her former lovers in the film, aggravating her bumpkin husband to no end. Cookie was "hot" and apparently very available.

Coming from North Carolina is Harlan Pepper (played by director and writer Christopher Guest, the real-life husband of Jamie Lee Curtis, a marriage that has lasted since 1984). Pepper owns a fly-fishing shop and is enamored with his Bloodhound "Hubert".

Her husband Leslie says not a word in the film, appears dead, embalmed and strapped to a wheelchair. Shari is not only enamored with her poodle but also with her handler Christy Cummings (Jane Lynch). Christy and Shari are in more heat than any masculine, healthy dog could muster.

Coming from who knows where with their entry are Stefan Vanderhoof (Michael McKean) and Scott Donlan (John Michael Higgins), an outgoing, outrageous, stereotypical gay couple.

These four entrants are joined by Meg Swan (Parker Posey) and Hamilton Swan (Michael Hitchcock). The Swans are anything but graceful, quiet and beautiful to be around.

Despite being a comedy, the behavior of the Swans in Best of Show is so well done and lifelike that their tirade ceases to be funny and becomes disturbing. Neither Posey or Hitchcock received an acting award for their performances, but I could not fault them for their effort.

Two more notable performances in this film come from Buck Laughlin (Fred Willard) as the "color commentator" at the prestigious competition, and from Mark Schaefer (Ed Begley, Jr., almost my namesake) as manager of the Taft Hotel that put up with the dog show owners in Philly.

Despite its rating as one of The 50 Greatest Comedies of All Time by Premiere magazine, Best in Show comes up short on the awards end. It earned a Golden Globe nomination as Best Comedy and a few lesser awards.

Best in Show earned only $16 million at the box office, perhaps because of its slow start. It opened the 1st week at only 13 theaters nationally, moved to 53 theaters its 2nd week, 291 its 3rd week and finally broke though with 497 theaters its 4th week, topping $2 million before dying off after 12 weeks.

Best in Show is referred to as a "mockumentary", a word that does not appear in The New Oxford American Dictionary (my personal word bible). One might call Best in Show a parody of a documentary with humor as the centerpiece. It is good for some laughs.

The Bourne Supremacy – 2 Stars (Average)

In a CIA sting in Berlin two agents get murdered and a former agent, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), is framed for the hit. Bourne was in India with his girlfriend at the time, having dropped out of the CIA after suffering amnesia. The sting gone wrong was an inside job, which was one of CIA’s own, just not Bourne. In the meantime, the CIA wants Bourne dead, and so does the ruthless cartel that was paid to frame him.

This is an action adventure, and not a bad start to a movie, but the presentation suffers because it is too hard to follow the story line, the sound is terrible (you just cannot hear much of the movie without turning up the volume very high), and the main auto chase scene in the movie is beyond ridiculous.

The police in The Bourne Supremacy are presented as dumber than a rock when, in real life, just the opposite is true, as the criminal is more often than not captured because he is dumb. This flaw in moviemaking hurts the reality of the presentation in a suspenseful drama, and makes it tougher to swallow. Please, leave the dumb, bungling cop routine for comedies (I believe we call this associating appropriately).

January 17, 2007

Boys Don't Cry – 1 Star (Terrible)

How can a film produce an Oscar winning Best Actress performance and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination and still be a terrible movie?

Easy, just fail to deliver an important message involving understanding and knowledge when you have millions of moviegoers who are glued to your presentation.

Give Kimberly Peirce credit for tackling an extremely controversial subject in "Boys Don't Cry", the true life story of Brandon Teena, a transgendered teen who was born a woman named Teena Brandon that preferred life as a male until it was discovered that "he" was born female.

Please, Kimberly Peirce, if there is to be a subsequent controversial movie in the offing, do not repeat this scenario as it only reinforces all of the stereotypes, prejudices, bigotry, stupidity and transphobia already present in our society and culture.

(I am not sure what the phobia is for transgendered people so I simply created transphobia because homophobia means an extreme and irrational aversion to homosexuality and homosexual people, which is not what we are talking about here.)

However, artistically this is not even an average film and certainly not a pleasant viewing experience because of the R-rated violence, including an intensely brutal rape scene, sexuality, language, drug usage and murder. Good grief, Lucy would have been aghast!

The point is that none of this graphic violence would have been needed to make this a great and moving film that engenders more understanding and compassion rather than being a disturbing drama with romance gone wrong.

Peirce (terrible rating) joins the non-so-exclusive club of fellow writer/directors who have fallen short, including Vanessa Parise (average rating) for Kiss the Bride, Peter Weir (average rating) for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Nancy Myers (average rating) for Something's Gotta Give, Thomas Bezucha (average rating) for The Family Stone, Michael McGowan (average rating) for Saint Ralph, Jared Hess (terrible rating) for Napoleon Dynamite, Robert Rodriguez (terrible rating) for Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and Paul Thomas Anderson (terrible rating) for Punch-Drunk Love.

The absolute worst of this lot is Punch-Drunk Love.

Hilary Swank delivered even though the movie did not. She earned both Oscar and Golden Globe Best Actress Awards as Brandon Teena. Swank also won another 18 lesser Best Actress Awards.

Chloë Sevigny played Lana Tisdel, Brandon Teena's love interest in the film. Sevigny earned both Best Supporting Actress Oscar and Golden Globe nominations and won another 7 lesser Best Suipporting Actress Awards.

Every female in the film auditioned for part that Hilary Swank won over hundreds of other actresses. Katherine Moennig who plays the part of the lesbian playgirl Shane on ShowTime's The L Word, a lesbian drama, also auditioned for the part.

Hilary Swank is only the fifth actress to win two Oscars in her first two nominations as Best Actress. She joins Vivien Leigh, Helen Hayes, Sally Field and Luise Rainer.

Swank brings to her roles the legendary, tenacious preparation of Dustin Hoffman. Swank dropped her body fat to 7% for the role as Brandon Teena and then went into serious training and put on 19 pounds of muscle for her role as Maggie Fitzgerald. She is athletic, having been a swimmer and gymnast of note while growing up in a trailer park near Bellingham, Washington.

Because of the violent explosiveness of the film, viewers are left to choose up sides and launch multiple topics of debate which regrettably settle or advance nothing.

It is like getting a group of overreactionary people together to settle the right way to think about pro choice-pro life issues, all of which is like civilization running in neutral gear when it could be moving forward to better knowledge and understanding of the critical issues people face in their ordinary lives.

This is not a job for a talented Hollywood scriptwriter; it is a job for someone more enlightened than a Hollywood scriptwriter.

December 26, 2006

Breakfast at Tiffany's – 3 Stars (Good)

Was there ever an actress who combined these four timeless qualities—beauty, fashion, grace and humility—better than Audrey Hepburn? I think not, especially when I see her again in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Even an actress who could come close (and I can think of none) would in no way match the humility of Audrey Hepburn. We shall not see another like her in our lifetime and by then the film industry may be on the way out when some newer, better technology unknown to us today arrives.

All the more reason to purchase her five most memorable movies in DVD now while they are still available.

The next four would be her Best Actress Oscar nominations for Sabrina, The Nun's Story, Wait Until Dark (one of the two scariest movies I have ever seen) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (the Oscar went to Sophia Loren for Two Women).

Breakfast at Tiffany's had two great assets, Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly, the young New York socialite (we say socialite because this movie was released in 1961, 45 years ago), and Director Blake Edwards, whose deft, sensitive handling of Hepburn's character (a high-priced prostitute) could not have been done better.

She has Holly Golightly floating around in Givenchy gowns with matchless grace and glamour.

Breakfast at Tiffany's is based on Truman Capote's novel with the screenplay by George Axelrod, who also garnered an Oscar nomination.

 Henry Mancini (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics) teamed up to win an Oscar for the Original Song "Moon River" while Mancini earned another Oscar as well as a Grammy for Best Musical Score.

The story line has the two romantic interests dependent upon others for financial support, Holly as a lady of the night and Paul Varjak (George Peppard), a wannabe writer who is kept by the married and wealthy Mrs. Failenson (Patricia Neal). Eventually Holly and Paul experience some personal growth and find love together.

She recorded singing vocals for her role as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady only to discover that professional "singing double" Marni Nixon had overdubbed all of her songs.

Hepburn was not nominated for a Best Actress Oscar in this film, but her love interest Rex Harrison won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Professor Henry Higgins.

The only two dresses she wore are now in the Givenchy archives and the Museum of Costume in Madrid, Spain.

In Audrey Hepburn's performance there are times when we are delighted by sweet innocence in a woman. You cannot imagine how difficult this is to find in today's world.

Audrey Hepburn became a beauty and fashion icon, and although she did enjoy fashion, she placed little importance on it, preferring casual and comfortable clothes away from the bright lights and cameras.

After 15 years as a highly successful actress Audrey Hepburn chose to lead a quieter life far away from Hollywood. She was married twice, first to actor Mel Ferrer and then to Italian doctor Andrea Dotti and had a son with each.

Hepburn was Belgian by birth and would grow up with her mother in The Netherlands, nearly starving to death during the Nazi occupation in World War II when the Dutch food and fuel supplies were cut off. Tragically, she suffered through watching her uncle and cousin being shot to death for being part of the Resistance movement.

Only four months before her death from abdominal cancer she went on a mission to Somalia and was devastated to see the nightmare of famine and carnage.

Audrey Hepburn was the picture of beauty, fashion and grace but never for a minute let her success go to her head, and most certainly never led a Hollywood lifestyle of overblown debauchery so much in evidence in moviemaking and Tinseltown today.

See Breakfast at Tiffany's because Audrey Hepburn became an important contributor to our time and culture. She not only represented the best in professional growth but made her life a legacy with her personal growth. She was a model of grace and humility in a world with little of either.

The Breakfast Club – 2 Stars (Average)

This film focuses on five teens who spend all day Saturday in detention at a high school. They arrive not knowing each other and leave as new friends, having experienced some personal growth as their self-defense mechanisms crumble under the stress and proximity of the situation. They are Andrew the Jock (Emilio Estevez), Brian the Brain (Anthony Michael Hall), John the Criminal (Judd Nelson), Claire the Princess (Molly Ringwald) and Allison the Kook (Ally Sheedy).

The Breakfast Club was written and directed by John Hughes. The number of awards this film received was zero, zip, nada (or, you might say, average). This is a film about the interpersonal relationships among the teenagers, all of whom suffer from difficult relationships with their parents. The impact of the parents' treatment and expectations is more than evident, and underscores how impressionable teenagers are at this point in their understanding and maturity about life.

Breakfast on Pluto – 2 Stars (Average)

Breakfast on Pluto is a gender preference movie about a boy who really wants to be a girl, and settles for being a transvestite trying to find a place in a world that curses his very existence. Irish actor Cillian Murphy plays Patrick “Kitten” Braden in a controversial film due to the subject matter.

It is very difficult to make a great film. It is difficult to make a good film. It is almost impossible to make a good film when the subject matter is not even on the radar screen of the average viewer.

Alternative lifestyle films do not win awards even if the actors involved get an Oscar (as Hilary Swank did in Boys Don't Cry), get nominated for an Oscar (as Felicity Huffman did in Transamerica) or get nominated for a Golden Globe (as Cillian Murphy did in Breakfast on Pluto).

There will be no great acceptance for alternative films now or in the distant future.

Hollywood is OK with accepting alternative lifestyles, but Hollywood is generally far more liberal, permissive and self-absorbed than mainstream America.

Some of us in mainstream America are interested in relationship films and put no restrictions on the individuals and lifestyles involved. I endured Boys Don't Cry and Transamerica and am pleased to say I did not have to endure Breakfast on Pluto.

Jordan achieves something that few of his counterparts have been able to do and that is direct and write and produce a good product. I have a laundry list of wannabe writer/directors who have tried to do both and failed miserably.

The only other effort that immediately comes to mind besides Neil Jordan is Tim McCanlies' Secondhand Lions. McCanlies is a master storyteller in Secondhand Lions.

Cillian Murphy's great performance honors a character who stays true to "her" life, and remains in character to win in the end. While the production in the film suffers from sound problems that border on annoying, Murphy does not miss a beat despite narrowly escaping death on three occasions.

The film could not have been comfortable for the Catholic church as the priest Father Liam (Liam Neeson) impregnates his very attractive housekeeper, becoming the father (literally and figuratively) of Patrick Braden. He is raised as a foster child by an alcoholic mother who earns her living as a tavern owner.

Jordan as the Director concentrates on the character of "Kitten" and wisely avoids taking the low road by using any tawdry displays for ratings, He makes Kitten into a real person that has a lack of direction and real problems fitting into regular society.

Cillian Murphy does an excellent job of keeping his character Kitten on task with the famous line "to thine ownself be true." Kitten does not waver or compromise who she is despite danger or lack of acceptance. In the end, Father Liam comes to terms with breaking his vow of celibacy, reconciles with Kitten, and experiences some personal growth in the process.

I think anyone involved in an alternative lifestyle would appreciate Breakfast on Pluto, not because it makes a statement about endorsing an alternative lifestyle, but because it makes a statement about acceptance of oneself without recrimination.

Kitten shows it is not necessary to flaunt who you are to gain acceptance, she eventually finds acceptance by being herself, nothing more and nothing less.

Camelot – 4 Stars (Excellent)

"Camelot" is a wonderful Broadway musical that garnered Oscars for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Music, and Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Sound.  It other words, Camelot was a superb technical triumph in its day.

Camelot also won Golden Globes for Richard Harris for Best Actor (as King Arthur), Frederick Loewe for Best Original Score, and both Frederick Loewe (music) and Alan Jay Lerner (lyrics) for Best Original Song "If Ever I Should Leave You".

Golden Globe nominations also went to Camelot for Best Picture, to Vanessa Redgrave for Best Actress (as Guenevere) and to Franco Nero for the Most Promising Newcomer (as Lancelot Du Lac).

Joshua Logan directed this film like a beautiful flower coming into blossom where it is planted only to be destroyed by fire.

Camelot, released in 1967, celebrates its 40th anniversary this October, and was based on the 1960 musical play Camelot written by Alan Jay Lerner with music by Frederic Loewe.

The play was based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White novel "The Once and Future King" and ran on Broadway for 873 performances. To say the least, it was well received.

The original cast for the play included Richard Burton as King Arthur, Julie Andrews as Queen Guenevere, Robert Goulet as Sir Lancelot, Roddy McDowell as Mordred, Robert Coote as King Pellinore and David Hurst as Merlyn with Moss Hart as the Director.

Camelot became a modern day legend when it was immortalized—after President John F. Kennedy's assassination on November 22, 1963—by revealing that the show's original cast recording had been the favorite bedtime listening in the White House. Kennedy's favorite lines were in the final number (when King Arthur knights a young boy and tells him to pass on the story of Camelot to future generations):

Don't let it be forgot,
That once there was a spot,
For one brief, shining moment
That was known as Camelot.

Since then, Camelot has been associated with the Kennedy administration, and the glory and the tragedy of the Kennedy family. Kennedy was the youngest elected President, the first Roman Catholic President, and the youngest President to die.

The following synopsis of Camelot from wikipedia.com is important in setting the stage for what I am about to reveal to you (the songs to accompany the scene are in parentheses):

"Guenevere arrives in Camelot on a wintry morning to marry King Arthur (of England) and is greeted festively by the Court. Arthur, shy and nervous, hides in the nearby woods ("I Wonder What the King is Doing Tonight?").

"Arthur learns from Merlyn the wisdom of peace and brotherhood, and is inspired to establish the Round Table. The news of this reaches young Lancelot in France, who is determined to come to Camelot and join Arthur's knights ("C'est Moi").

"A May Day celebration takes place on the castle grounds ("The Lusty Month of May"), where Arthur introduces his wife to Lancelot. Guenevere takes an instant dislike to the cocky young man and (challenges) him to engage three knights of the Round Table in a jousting match ("Then You May Take Me to the Fair"). Arthur is dismayed by this and (is) at a loss to understand a woman's way ("How to Handle a Woman").

"Returning two years later, Arthur makes him a Knight of the Round Table. Arthur is painfully aware of the feelings between Lancelot and Guenevere but remains silent to preserve the tranquility of the Camelot.

"Lancelot reveals his feelings to Guenevere ("If Every I Would Leave You"). Nevertheless, she remains faithful to Arthur, and helps him in carrying out the affairs of State ("What Do Simple Folks Do?").

"Mordred and some of the Knights of the Round Table interrupt, accuse Lancelot of treachery, and imprison him. Lancelot escapes, but Guenevere is sentenced to burn ("Guenevere"). At the last moment, Lancelot rescues her and takes her off with him to France.

"For the sake of his own honor and that of Camelot, Arthur must now wage war on France. Just before the final battle, he meets Lancelot and Guenevere, and forgives them both.

Two side notes and then my revelation.

First, the song "If Ever I Would Leave You" (erroneously called "If Ever I Should Leave You" in the Golden Globe citation) was nominated and won in the category Best Original Song Written for a Motion Picture, even though it was not written especially for the film.

It was written for the original stage production of Camelot, and all the other nominees were songs especially written for films. This is the only instance in the history of the Golden Globe Awards that this has happened.

Second, even though Richard Burton won a Tony for Best Actor in the stage play and was offered the same part as King Arthur in the film, he turned it down. Richard Harris was magnificent in his performance as King Arthur in the film.

I felt in my heart that Camelot was also a primer in civilized human relationships and personal growth as well as a step forward for humanity. Let me explain.

When King Arthur realizes the relationship between his Queen and his chief knight, he says this, reacting like a man:

"I love them and they answer me with pain and torment. Be it sin or not sin, they betray me in their hearts and that's far sin enough. I can feel it in their eyes. I can feel it when they speak, and they must pay for it and be punished. I shall not be wounded and not return it in kind! I'm through with feeble hoping! I demand a man's vengeance!"

Then he calms down and says this, reacting like a king: "Proposition: I'm a king, not a man. And a very civilized king. Could it possibly be civilized to destroy the (ones) I love? Did they ask for this calamity? Can passion be selected?"

In the end, King Arthur takes the high road. He would not punish either of them given his druthers, he realizes he still loves Guenevere and loves his best friend and knight, Lancelot, as a brother.

He cannot, however, stop Guenevere from burning at the stake for her indiscretion. He enlists his confidant King Pellinore to watch and see if Lancelot will attempt to rescue her in time. Thankfully, Lancelot does.

King Arthur sees the wisdom of the Round Table, bringing the knights of the kingdom together to protect the weak rather than fight among themselves at the expense of the weak.

King Arthur uses his love to overcome his pain and suffering and ultimately loses not only the love of his life but his best friend.

And, most important, despite going into a battle he may well lose and perhaps even die, he has the presence of mind to knight a young man to carry his hope into the future, so his vision will continue.

Is Alan Jay Lerner a great writer of screenplays? Perhaps the best, ever. You decide. Camelot has been on my Top 10 Favorite Movie List for 40 years. Now you know why.

Catch Me If You Can – 2 Stars (Average)

This movie is based on the true story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. who successfully conned millions of dollars by impersonating a pilot, physician and legal prosecutor, and he did this all before his 19th birthday. Abagnale was nothing if not very bright, and even more clever than bright considering his age. Catch Me If You Can stars Leonardo DiCaprio (the pursued) and Tom Hanks (the pursuer), both former Academy Award winners.

Catch Me If You Can has a great story line, but it is not a great film. In a word, it was disappointing. This great chase has its moments, just too few of them. Both DiCaprio and Hanks are miscast in this film; the casting director should be demoted. The script is suspect too because it is disjointed and lacks believable depth.

November 29, 2007

"Chariots of Fire" Is Very Simply the Greatest Running Movie Ever Made

Chariots of Fire – 4 Stars (Excellent)

As a former record-setting championship runner, it is normal and natural for me to proclaim "Chariots of Fire" as simply the greatest running movie every made. What is strange is famed movie critic Roger Ebert's reaction to this film classic.

"I have no interest in running and am not a partisan in the British class system," says Ebert. "Then why should I have been so deeply moved by 'Chariots of Fire', a British film that has running and class as its subjects? Like many great films, Chariots of Fire takes its nominal subjects as occasions for much larger statements about human nature."

Ebert is drawn to Chariots of Fire like a bee to honey. He cannot resist the powerful presentation of this true story about two men of principles and integrity that use running as a magnet to attract followers to their cause.

One is Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross), a British man to the core and a Jew whose father is an immigrant and financier from Lithuania. The other is Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a Scot who is the son of missionaries in China. Both have the God-given gift of speed and seek to bring home medals from the 1924 Paris Olympics.

Abrahams feels the sting of discrimination because of his Jewish heritage and runs for the glory of Britain and the acceptance that he believes will make him whole; there is no question he is worthy. Aubrey Montague (Nicholas Farrell) is his close friend and confidant.

"You, Aubrey, are my most complete man," says Abrahams. "You're brave, compassionate, kind: a content man. That is your secret, contentment. I am 24 and I've never known it. I'm forever in pursuit and I don't even know what I am chasing."

Abrahams is driven by his quest for a gold medal in the 100-meter dash. He will let nothing come between him and his goal, even the love of his life Sybil Gordon (Alice Krige). He enters Cambridge University and quickly becomes a campus standout by becoming the first person to successfully run around the Trinity Great Court from the first toll until the clock strikes 12. His competition is Lord Andrew Lindsay (Nigel Havers) who pushes him to glory.

Abrahams tells his friend Aubrey Montague that he has never been beaten in competition. When he faces Eric Liddell for the first time he loses, and his immaturity surfaces when he declares to Sybil Gordon that "If I can't win, I won't run!" Sybil replies, "If you don't run, you can't win."

Fortunately, the famous trainer Sam Mussabini (Ian Holm) is at the race and tells Abrahams he is over striding and points out that over striding is the kiss of death for a sprinter. He reluctantly agrees to coach Abrahams so he can beat Liddell in the 100 meters.

Sam Mussabini tells Abrahams that Liddell is a fast gut runner who digs deep, but reminds him that a short sprint is run on nerves, and then adds that it's tailor-made for neurotics.

Eric Liddell is more than fast, he is one of the fastest runners anywhere, a fact that is about to be demonstrated to the world in the Olympic games. Liddell is self-assured and confident and unlike, Abrahams, runs for the greater glory of God.

When his missionary sister Jennie Liddell (Cheryl Campbell) fears his focus will be lost on running, Eric replies that "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel his pleasure."

In the Olympic games, both Abrahams and Liddell will clash with two very fast Americans, Charles Paddock—the world record holder in the 100 meters—and Jackson Scholz—a 200-meter sprinter.

When Eric Liddell learns that the preliminaries for the 100-meter dash will be run on Sunday, he refuses to compete. When confronted by the British Olympic Committee and Lord Cadogan reprimands him for his impertinence, Liddell replies that "The impertinence lies, sir, with those who seek to influence a man to deny his beliefs!"

At the 11th hour and 59th minute, Lord Andrew Lindsey intervenes with a solution: Since he has already won a bronze medal in the 200-meter race, let Liddell replace him in the 400-meter dash.

Liddell is then seen at church delivering a guest sermon and quotes the Bible prophetically from Isaiah, Chapter 40, Verse 31: "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (King James Version).

Chariots of Fire has an unknown cast with spectacular photography and music as well as many running scenes.

Roger Ebert keys in on the musical score, calling it "one of the most remarkable sound tracks of any film" with music by the Greek composer Vangelis. "His compositions . . . are as evocative, and as suited to the material, as the different but also perfectly matched scores (as) 'Zorba the Greek'."

Vangelis' use of an electronic score may have been ill-suited to a period piece like Chariots of Fire, but it worked beyond anyone's expectations, creating a new style in film scoring. He played all of the instruments, including synthesizers, acoustic piano, battery and percussion.

Against this nostalgic backdrop the movie opens with Lord Andrew Lindsey delivering the eulogy for Harold Abahams funeral:

"Let us praise famous men and our fathers that begat us. All these men were honored in their generations and were a glory in their days. We are here today to give thanks for the life of Harold Abrahams. To honor the legend. Now there are just two of us—young
Aubrey Montague and myself—who can close our eyes and remember those few young men with hope in our hearts and wings on our heels."

From this incredible opening follows the flashback and the narration that recounts the challenges and glory of Great Britain's athletes at the 1924 Olympic Games. The next scene is the athletes running along the beach to what has become known as the Chariots of Fire theme that would later be released as a single in 1982 and top the charts in the United States.

In the end, Harold Abrahams would win the 100-meter dash, and would also win a silver medal as the opening leg (runner) on the 4x100 relay team. Eric Liddell—the Flying Scotsman—would win the 400-meter dash in an Olympic record 47.6 seconds, and also picked up a bronze medal in the 200-meter dash, won by Jackson Scholz with Charles Paddock second.

Among many poignant moments in Chariots of Fire is Eric Liddell at the starting line of the 400-meter dash and Jackson Scholz, who was not competing in the race, hands him a written note of text from the Bible. The quotation was from 1st Samuel, 2nd Chapter. Verse 30, "Those who honor me I will honor." Liddell ran the 400 meters with the note in his hand and set an Olympic record.

Abrahams would marry his sweetheart and become the elder statesman of track and field in Britain. Liddell would return to China as a missionary with his physician brother Rob and ultimately be imprisoned during the Chinese-Japanese War in 1942.

Winston Churchill arranged for a prisoner exchange to get Liddell out of the camp (his family had left China before the hostilities started) but Liddell—ever faithful to the end in serving others—gave up his place to a pregnant mother. He died of a brain tumor in 1945, 5 months before the camp was liberated. Even today, 64 years later, he is honored as Scotland's greatest athlete.

If you have a shred of integrity, principles, ethics, morals, honor, sensitivity or patriotism, you will love Chariots of Fire and be moved by its message.

If you do not, I cannot do anything for you but let you know that Chariots of Fire is more than the greatest running movie ever made, it is also one of the greatest films ever made.

Chariots of Fire, released in 1981, was a British film written by Colin Welland and directed by Hugh Hudson. It would draw moviegoers everywhere by winning 4 Oscars at the Academy Awards for Best Picture (Producer David Puttman), Best Original Screenplay (Colin Welland), Best Original Music Score (Vangelis) and Best Costume Design (Milena Canonero).

Chariots of Fire was also nominated for Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Ian Holm as Sam Mussabini), Best Director (Hugh Hudson) and Best Film Editing (Terry Rawlings). It also had 12 other wins and 15 more nominations, including Best Foreign Film at the Golden Globe Awards.

Chariots of Fire remains among my list of the Top 10 films ever made. It passes my most stringent test of asking myself after seeing a film: Am I a better person for having seen this film? The answer is yes, a thousand times yes!

Even today, 26 years after seeing Chariots of Fire for the first time, I get goose bumps whenever I see it again.

Every time I see it I pull down my Cambridge Factfinder from my library shelf and stare at the 1924 Paris Olympic results. There I see three gold medal winners—Harold Abrahams of Great Britain in the 100-Meter Dash (10.6), Eric Liddell of Great Britain in the 400-Meter Dash (an Olympic record 47.6) and Douglas Lowe of Great Britain in the 800-Meter Run (1:52.4). Lowe was not in Colin Welland's script.

I think of that glorious time when some few ran with hope in their hearts and wings on their heels.

January 23, 2008

This is a classic, stand-up comedy routine at the famous Apollo Theater in New York City by the very best comedian in America in 1999, Chris Rock. Rock, who is billed as a comedian only, actually delivers social insight and relationship truths wrapped up in the "f—k" word in what seemed like a 1,000 repetitions in 65 minutes onstage.

Chris Rock delivers his sharp opinions and truth-of-his-time in the cultural vulgarity that is common ghetto talk in metro area African American communities. Cut through the language (ignore the method of delivery) and Chris Rock is very impressive as a comedian and social observer in 1999.

The Christmas Child – 2 Stars (Average)

A Chicago journalist goes to a small Texas town on an assignment with another motive in mind, to find out about his past. He was adopted and wants to find his roots. His marriage is on the rocks when he arrives, and by struggling to find his past, and confronting the truth, he finds himself and saves his marriage. This film could be on the Hallmark channel, as there is no filth, no violence and no sex to mess up a good story line with some surprise happenings.

Lousy.  Made for 11-year-old girls, for which it achieved its most noble purpose, lining the pockets of the movie producers. A real piece of artificial crap masquerading as something worth watching.

March 18, 2007

Chicago – 4 Stars (Excellent)

Let me get right to it: The musical "Chicago" is absolutely everything it was cracked up to be.

Imagine a chanteuse named Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who kills both her husband and her sister when she finds them in bed together.

Imagine a bored wife named Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger) who has an affair with a man she thinks can make her a star only to find out she has been had and is so mad she kills him.

Imagine them both in jail awaiting trial for murder with the eventual prospect of death row. Their only out is to create enough of a stir in the press to become famous and desired by an insatiable public in Chicago during the Roaring Twenties with its booze, nightclubs and all that jazz.

Add in Matron Mama Morton (Queen Latifah) who rules the jail with an iron hand that can only be greased with money, and Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), an attractive, slick attorney who always gets his client acquitted while making them into even bigger stars in jail than on the stage, and you have the ingredients for a fantastic story.

A superb cast of singers and dancers under the direction of Rob Marshall brought Chicago together in a super professional, entertaining romp that generated 13 Oscar nominations and won 6 in addition to 30 wins and 52 nominations from other award groups.

Oscar nominations went to Renee Zellweger for Best Actress, John C. Reilly (as Roxie's husband Amos) for Best Supporting Actor, Queen Latifah as Best Supporting Actress, Rob Marshall as Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Original Song "I Move On" and Best Writing.

 Watching Chicago made me realize how good Catherine Zeta-Jones is as a signer and dancer. Zeta-Jones is such a classic beauty that it is easy to get stuck just looking at her.

While Zeta-Jones had prior experience Zellweger apparently had no singing and dancing training prior to this film. Even Richard Gere surprised me. I have never thought of Gere as much of an actor, never mind a singer or dancer. He took tap dance lessons for three months to prepare for the part, and apparently won the role almost by default after John Travolta was offered the part several times.

After Chicago became Miramax's highest grossing film generating $171 million at the domestic box office, Travolta apparently deeply regretted declining the part.

Auditioning for Catherine Zeta-Jones' part as Velma Kelly were none other than Angelina Jolie and Madonna. Auditioning for Renee Zellweger's role as Roxie Hart and some other parts in the film were Goldie Hawn, Kathy Bates, Rosie O'Donnell, Nicole Kidman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kristin Chenoweth, Cameron Diaz, Whoopi Goldberg and Britney Spears.

Apparently Zeta-Jones was originally approached to play the role of Roxie Hart but would not as she knew the character of Velma Kelly sang "All That Jazz" and she wanted to play that role so she could sing that song.

Charlize Theron was initially selected to play the role of Roxie Hart when another director was involved but lost out when Rob Marshall took over as director. The casting of Renee Zellweger proved to be a very wise choice.

Much of the dialog in the film is good, and funny. Here are some exhibits from the courtroom, and when the women on death row are retelling their misfortune:

Velma Kelly: Yes, it is.

Assistant District Attorney Martin Harrison: I submit this as Exhibit X – Roxie Hart's diary!

Billy Flynn: I object! My client has never held a diary! And even if she did, this would be . . . invasion of privacy, and violation of the fourth amendment, and . . . and illegal search without a warrant!

Roxie Hart: Yeah, AND she broke the lock!

Billy Flynn: Miss Kelly, did you make a deal with Assistant D. A. Harrison to drop all charges against you in exchange for your testimony?

Velma Kelly: Why, sure. I'm not a complete idiot.

June: I'm standin' in the kitchen, carving up a chicken for dinner, minding my own business, when in storms my husband, Wilbur, in a jealous rage. "You've been screwing the milkman," he said. He was crazy, and he kept on screaming, "You've been screwing the milkman." And then he ran into my knife . . . he ran into my knife ten times.

There is nothing not to like about Chicago. If you love musicals, you will love Chicago.

November 16, 2006

An Iranian movie with subtitles about a boy who accidentally loses his sister’s worn out shoes after being sent to get them repaired, and must share his own worn out sneakers with her in a sort of relay while each attends school at different times during the day.

He bargains with his sister not to tell his father that he has lost her shoes, as the father will beat both of them.

This is a family literally living hand-to-mouth in a one-room rental with no, and I mean no, amenities, except a tea pot and television. There is no visible kitchen, no bathroom (one assumes they share a bathroom in the building), no beds (they sleep on the floor), and no apparent heat. Jeez, this is living in poverty in parts of the war-torn Middle East.

We have so much more of everything in America that even our less fortunate people live better than the majority of the people in undeveloped and underdeveloped nations around the world, but back to Iran and these particular children.

The shoe exchange in "Children of Heaven" goes on for days with predictable results, the boy is continually late for school and reprimanded, his sister longs for a pair of shoes, and she even suffers the humility of seeing one of her classmates wearing her missing shoes (a street vendor inadvertently picked up the repaired shoes while picking up refuse at a vegetable shop).

Alas, all is not lost, as the boy learns of a 4 kilometer foot race (approximately 2.5 miles), and the 3rd place prize is a pair of new sneakers. He knows he can run fast (he has been unknowingly practicing by having to run each day to school to get there on time) and decides to beg his way into the race, finish 3rd, and give his hard-earned prize to his sister.

Imagine the start of this race among his peers, it looked like the start of the Boston Marathon in America with 10,000+ competitors. The race footage is well done. In the end, the boy does not finish 3rd, he wins the race, but not the sneakers.

There is no resolution in this film, it is like I imagined the Middle East culture and mentality all over again, no consensus on anything, no meaningful result to anything, and negative to the end.

If it were not for this terrible ending, this film would have a 3-star rating rather than 2, however, I am not about to reward poor story telling.

Children of Heaven has some touching moments, and is instructive because it reminds us that no matter what the politics are, children are children; and they act like children, everywhere, and in every corner of the world. This film is worth the look, but brace yourself for an unsettling ending.

NETFLIX has lulled me to sleep once too often. I have rented NETFLIX films that are characterized as a “romantic comedy” when, in reality, I have been given a film with two funny scenes and a very heavy dose of disturbing human conflict with raw emotions and passion.

September 5, 2009

"Chocolat" Is Moviemaking at Its Best: A Sweet Story With an Important Message

Chocolat – 4 Stars (Excellent)

It is rare when you can say that a movie is so warm and wonderful that it can even overcome a manipulative, vindictive authority figure and a husband guilty of spousal abuse, but "Chocolat" manages to do so with some great acting, writing and directing.

Chocolat is everything that is right about moviemaking—a romantic comedy with some drama and important lessons to be learned about rejection, love, compassion, kindness, friendship, acceptance and helping people at their point of need.

Like many great movies that earn Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture, Chocolat has a storyteller that weaves a tale fantastic fueled by the current of the north winds.

It is the north winds that bring Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche), a single mother, and her 6-year-old daughter Anouk (Victorie Thivisol) to a small, rural village in France, where Vianne immediately opens a chocolate shop—with Sunday hours—across the street from a Catholic church during Lenten season.

Many of the village's 350 residents are skeptical of Vianne's arrival, and especially because she has opened her business when many of them have given up eating candy during Lent as a sacrifice to their maker.

Comte Paul de Reynaud (Alfred Molina), the mayor, is beyond incensed that anyone would do such a thing in his village. The mayor is a manipulative, control freak who demands that the villagers live up to his code of conduct—basically doing what he says, when he says it, on cue. You are expected to conform to the mayor's rules, or face being ostracized, and being told to leave.

It is clear that the mayor and the town's new chocolatier will lock horns. What is not clear is how Vianne's chocolates will affect those who dare to eat them.

One by one she begins to win over the villagers by helping them at their point of need. Vianne befriends Armande Voizin (Judi Dench), her landlord, whose daughter Caroline Clairmont (Carrie-Anne Moss) refuses to let her mother see her grandson Luc Clairmont (Aurelien Parent-Koenig). Armande is a diabetic who will not take proper care of herself, choosing to live out the rest of her life as she pleases.

Vianne also befriends Josephine Muscat (Lena Olin), who finds refuge at Vianne's rental above the chocolate shop when she leaves her alcoholic, abusive husband Serge Muscat (Peter Stormare). Violence erupts when Serge storms the apartment to recover his wife; he is as smart as a rock and treats his wife like a punching bag.

Vianne also manages to enliven a couple's married life with a chocolate aphrodisiac, and encourages an elderly man's secret love of a widow who has been in mourning for more than 40 years.

Things really begin to spin out of control when a band of river gypsies led by Roux (Johnny Depp) camp on the river near the village, and Vianne takes up with the Irish wanderer Roux. A near death incident leads to some serious consequences for the culprit involved, and the instigator as well. See the movie to find out how it all ends. Hint: You will know it ends with the north wind.

Chocolat (French for chocolate) gets some great acting performances from Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench, Lena Olin and Alfred Molina among others. Johnny Depp plays guitar in the movie in three different scenes, and does two songs on the soundtrack.

The film has a star-studded, international cast. Prior to filming Chocolat, French actress Juliette Binoche had won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in "The English Patient", British actress Judi Dench had won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress in "Shakespeare in Love", and Swedish actress Lena Olin had earned an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress in "Enemies: A Love Story".

Chocolat was directed by Lasse Hallstrom, whose wife is Lena Olin. The film is based on the novel by Joanne Harris with the screenplay by Robert Nelson Jacobs.

Appreciative voters did not ignore the excellence of this film. The Academy Awards nominated Binoche for Best Actress, Dench for Best Supporting Actress, Jacobs for Best Screenplay, Rachel Portman for Best Original Music, and Chocolat for Best Picture. Binoche, Dench, Portman and Chocolat were also nominated for Golden Globe Awards in the same categories. Chocolat also garnered 8 BAFTA nominations.

The box office numbers were good for Chocolat too. The production budget was $25 million and it pulled in $152 million in revenue worldwide. Chocolat also ranked among the Top 5 films ever to generate the most revenue without hitting the No. 1 rank.

In preparation for the film, Binoche went to a chocolate shop in Paris to learn how to make chocolates. One recipient of chocolates in the film had this to say, "And it melts, God forgive me, it melts ever so slowly on your tongue, and tortures you with pleasure."

No wonder the villages were won over by Vianne's creations.

However great the chocolates were in Chocolat, the real sweetness in this film is Juliette Binoche; I fell in love with her all over again. See Chocolat, it is not only tasteful, but delightful and delicious. May God bless the cast and crew for bringing us such a marvelous presentation.

Chorus, The (Les Choristes in French) – 4 Stars (Excellent)

First time French Director Christophe Barratier has given us an incredibly good movie in The Chorus.

I was forced to read the subtitles as I cannot understand French, but it mattered little as this film is illustrated and demonstrated with so many important values in life, including understanding, compassion, trust, appreciation, love, acceptance, challenge, vision, determination, integrity and justice.

The Chorus finds music teacher Clément Mathieu (Gérard Jugnot is excellent) landing a job at a boys’ boarding school populated by delinquents and orphans, and a misguided and mean headmaster named Rachin (Francois Berléand), who reminded me a lot of Nurse Ratched from Ken Kesey’s gem of a novel one flew over the cuckoo’s nest (Kesey's original title to his novel was in all lower case).

Mathieu uses his love of music to mold a few rambunctious ruffians and some really lost, neglected students into basically a coherent unit with purpose and hope. Mathieu discovers the singing talent of Pierre Morhange (Jean-Baptiste Maunier), and finds an assistant in the little Pépinot (Maxence Perrin).

The singing by the chorus in the film will stop you and amaze you because it is so stunning, and rightly so. Jean-Baptiste Maunier was selected for the role as Pierre Morhange precisely because he was an actual boys choir soloist for Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc, the choir members also sang the songs in the film.

While The Chorus was nominated for two Oscars, it came up empty handed at the presentations. No matter.

August 5, 2008

Director Giuseppe Tornatore Wins Best Foreign Film Oscar for "Cinema Paradiso"

Cinema Paradiso (Paradise Cinema in English) – 4 Stars (Excellent)

In my search for films that are not well known but tell a great story with an excellent presentation, I discovered "Cinema Paradiso" by Italian Director Giuseppe Tornatore.

Tornatore intended the film to be an obituary for traditional movie theaters (like Paradise Cinema) and the movie industry in general, but after the film's critical acclaim and box-office success, he changed his mind and apparently never publicly mentioned the demise of films again.

Many critics credit Cinema Paradiso with reviving Italy's movie industry, which would later produce "Mediterraneo" and "Life is Beautiful". Tornatore deserves even more credit than his directing effort; he also wrote the story and screenplay with some collaboration from Vanna Paoli.

Giuseppe Tornatore joins a very select group of writer/directors who have been able to create great films in a dual role. Most writer/directors fail miserably in their effort. I would elevate Tornatore to the same level as Tim McCanlies in "Secondhand Lions" and Kirk Jones in "Waking Ned Devine", both excellent pictures. It takes a lot more than gumption to create an excellent film, it also takes enormous talent, heart, sensitivity and maturity.

So just how successful was Cinema Paradiso? Among its 19 wins and 12 nominations for excellence was the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes, and Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival.

Cinema Paradiso will capture your heart when you see 6-year-old Salvatore "Toto" Di Vita (played by Salvatore Cascio) become captivated by the local cinema in his small, native Sicilian Village. He misses his father, who becomes a World War II victim, and through guile and a high interest level, convinces the cinema projectionist Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) to mentor him.

There are three "Totos" in the film—the younger (Salvatore Cascio), the teenager (Marco Leonardi) and the adult (Jacques Perrin). Perrin is a real-life film producer. Cascio steals every scene he is in with his incredible facial expressions, inquisitive mind and indomitable determination to learn how to be a projectionist.

Along the way, he gets into a lot of trouble. He loses his mother's trust by spending money he is given to buy bread for the family on an admission fee to see a film at the theater. He cons Alfredo the projectionist into giving him some film that causes a fire in his home and threatens his sister's life. He causes Alfredo to break his promise to Toto's mother that he will no longer let Toto into the projectionist's booth.

Ultimately, the flammable film also causes a fire and destroys the Cinema Paradiso and, in a harrowing act, Toto saves Alfredo's life but Alfredo loses his sight in the disaster. After the Paradiso is rebuilt as the Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (New Paradise Cinema), Toto, who has learned to be a projectionist, is hired as a child to do so because he is the only one in the village who knows how.

The bond between Alfredo as a surrogate father to Toto will only grow deeper when Toto enters his teenage years. He will seek out Alfredo for advice on life when he falls in love with the beautiful Elena (Agnese Nano), who comes from a rich family and enters into a forbidden relationship with Toto.

Alfredo will encourage Toto to leave his village for Rome and never return if he is serious about a career in the movie industry. Toto will eventually grow up to become a famous movie producer in Rome.

Cinema Paradiso starts when Toto learns that his beloved Alfredo has died. Toto has not been back to his village and to visit his mother and sister in 30 years. The question is: Will he return for the funeral? After reliving his life in flashbacks during a sleepless night, he boards a plane home to find himself again. The total story is too good to reveal much more here.

Cinema Paradiso is all about relationships. The relationship of a mother to her son, of a surrogate father to a son, of a boy to a girl, of a young romance, of a village's citizens to its theater, and of intergenerational gatherings among the villagers.

The release of Cinema Paradiso in 1988 proves the adage that if success was easy every film would achieve critical acclaim and would be a box-office smash. The original version released in Italy was 155 minutes (2 hours, 35 minutes) and had a poor response. After shortening the film to 123 minutes (2 hours, 3 minutes), it became an instant success.

I saw the 123-minute version that was released in the United States and was disappointed that there was no indication of what ultimately happened in Toto's relationship with Elena. I have since learned that Director Giuseppe Tornatore released a 173-minute version (2 hours, 53 minutes) in 2002 that contains exactly what I wanted to see. Find and watch the longer version if you can, it just adds to an already excellent film.

"Coach Carter" Sends an Outstanding Message About a Coach with Integrity, Honor and Goodness

Coach Carter – 3 Stars (Good)

Samuel L. Jackson plays Coach Ken Carter in a good sports drama with an outstanding message for today's high school basketball players who see playing with the pros as their only objective in life. Coach Carter, a successful sporting goods store owner and an outstanding athlete in his day, returns to his alma mater which is located in a poor area of Richmond (CA).

He inherits a team with players that have a poor attitude, poor performance and virtually no expectations for their future should they fail to advance their basketball careers. The team at Richmond High School is designed to have its student athletes fail by not requiring greater expectations, discipline and accountability. Coach Carter is the centerpiece of this movie about values based on a true story of a California team.

He immediately lays down the law, Carter style, demanding discipline, hard work and accountability. Carter and his players sign a written contract that demands standards for behavior, a dress code and good grades to stay eligible to play.

Carter believes that scholarship and ethics should go hand in hand with outstanding basketball play. Given some standards to meet, his players take a 180 degree turn and start winning from the outset of the season, going undefeated through several games. Then the community starts showering them with attention and praise and the players become overconfident and ignore their class attendance and studies.

Carter finds out that several of his players are nearly failing and takes immediate action, benching his team and shutting down the basketball program until the players toe the mark in their studies. You can imagine the reaction of the parents and community in general.

Coach Carter finds himself under immense pressure to give his players a pass. He becomes probably the only basketball coach in America to stand fast with an undefeated team. He flatly refuses to cave in, forcing his players to be accountable for their performance both on and off the court. This is an incredible story of a coach who will not compromise his values by not compromising his integrity. Coach Carter has the guts and audacity to stand fast and right wills out in the end.

Listen to what Coach Carter has to say at his board hearing: "You really need to consider the message you're sending these boys by ending the lockout. It's the same message that we as a culture send to our professional athletes, and that is that they are above the law. "If these boys cannot honor the simple rules of a basketball contract, how long do you think it will be before they're out there breaking the law? "I played ball here at Richmond High 30 years ago. It was the same thing then; some of my teammates went to prison, some of them even ended up dead. If you vote to end the lockout, you won't have to terminate me, I'll quit."

Powerful? You better believe it. Ignore the violence, sexual content, poor language, teen partying and drug material in this film, it is just Hollywood's clumsy way of stereotyping high school basketball players. There is too little recognition in films for prep basketball players who are not only outstanding collegiate and professional prospects but also outstanding students with great character and values.

Nonetheless, there are players like Coach Carter inherited, and this movie illustrates an important and needed statement about what really matters. Coach Carter is not interested in winning games to advance his career; he is totally focused on making young men into confident, productive, well adjusted adults.

Thankfully, the movie Coach Carter enjoyed some success, generating the highest opening weekend ($24 million) of any release by an MTV film. There was little recognition for this film among the most prestigious award givers. No matter. It was an Academy Award message in its own right. See this movie for its excellent message. And yes, take your children with you, they need the message even more than you do, they are now in the spotlight and you are behind it.

Cocktail – 1 Star (Terrible)

An early (1988) movie with Tom Cruise as an Irish performance bartender in Manhattan involved in booze, broads and beefcake with a smile. After watching this movie I tried to determine which was more compelling: this movie effort or an ant walking across the sidewalk. Unable to determine which, I concluded this film was the victim of a poor script, terrible acting, lack of an interesting story line, and any meaningful message. I guess I was looking for more than just mindless entertainment. I would not bother seeing this film again, unless, of course, you are just sappy about Tom Cruise and cannot get enough of a bad thing.

Corky Romano – 1 Star (Terrible)

A light (and I mean very light) comedy with no substance whatsoever, but funny nevertheless. Stars one of my favorite Saturday Night Live comics, Chris Kittan. It saddens me to see Christ Kittan in a movie like this after his brilliant sketches of Mango and Monkey Boy on Saturday Night Live. So many cast members of Saturday Night Live have gone over to movies, trying to make the big bucks, and have been put into terrible movies with terrible scripts and terrible results.

Chris Kittan is 1,000 times more impressive as a comedian on Saturday Night Live than Corky Romano will ever be. I have no idea what Peter Falk was doing in this movie; he must have needed rent money. I only bring these terrible movies to your attention so you do not get blindsided once you sit down to enjoy your movie rental of choice. My forewarning is useless, of course, should you invest in any of these films.

"The Departed" Is Best Mob Film Since Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" in 1972

Let me get to the most important thing first: Director Martin Scorsese won an Oscar for "The Departed". Scorsese, one of the most accomplished directors of our era, has been nominated for 7 Oscars—5 for Best Director and 2 for Best Screenplay—before winning with The Departed. He had also received 7 Golden Globe nominations—6 for Best Director and 1 for Best Screenplay—and won for Gangs of New York" before winning again for The Departed this year (2007).

The Departed also picked up 45 more wins and another 45 nominations, including another win for Scorsese (Best Director) and nominations for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg) at the Golden Globes.

The all-star cast of DiCaprio (Billy Costigan), Matt Damon (Sgt. Colin Sullivan), Jack Nicholson (Frank Costello), Wahlberg (Sgt. Sean Dignam), Martin Sheen (Capt. Oliver Queenan) and Alec Baldwin (Capt. George Ellerby) did not hurt a lick.

The story takes place in Boston where Irish Mob boss Frank Costello (Nicholson) embeds Colin Sullivan (Damon) as an informant with the Massachusetts State Police. Simultaneously, the State Police assign Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) to infiltrate Costello's crew. When both sides figure out the situation, it is left to Sullivan and Costigan to discover each other's identity.

The three main characters (Costello, Sullivan and Costigan) all show their anguish in balancing survival, winning and conquering the moment. There are apparently two versions of this film. I saw the longer version that is rated R for strong brutal violence, pervasive language, and some strong sexual content and drug material.

This film is not for children or young adults, not that young adults do not hear the same "f" word dozens a time a day at high schools all over the country, but who needs the "f" word 237 times in 2.5 hours? Nobody. I managed to tune out the cussing and concentrate on the story, acting and presentation that were excellent for an action flick with Mob presence.

I purposely ordered this film because I read a story in a national insert magazine (like Parade in Sunday daily newspapers) which offered up the 10 best movies ever made in select categories (like sports, politics, etc.). The category was best relationship picture ever made. This movie was an incredible piece of crap; it did not occur in the same world I live in, and have all of my relationships in. Defending Your Life was written by its leading player, Albert Brooks. Now, if this wannabe writer or actor has been in the forefront of your mind regarding Oscars or notoriety, then you get the picture. Amen. What a disappointment. Put the money you would spend seeing this disappointment into your retirement account, you will get a much better return on your money.

The Devil Wears Prada – 2 Stars (Average)

Meryl Streep, one of Hollywood's best and most honored actresses, carries The Devil Wears Prada like the namesake handbag we see early in this movie, which is about a powerful New York fashion magazine editor and her wannabe gofer.

Streep, a graduate of Vassar and the Yale School of Drama, has 13 nominations for an Academy Award, more than any other actor. Streep has 10 nominations for Best Actress and 3 for Best Supporting Actress. She won Oscars for Kramer vs. Kramer (Best Supporting Actress) and for Sophie's Choice (Best Actress). In The Devil Wears Prada, Miranda Priestly (Streep) is the editor of Runway fashion magazine (modeled after Vogue).

She hires Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway), a recent journalism grad, to be her new gofer. Andy supposedly wants this opportunity to grovel for an iron-willed, focused Miranda who would intimidate her favorite pet if she had one.

She would rather work for a weekly newspaper than the New York Times if she had to put with the crap that Andy had to put up with. This is especially true of anyone with talent who has integrity. It is possible to get ahead on talent alone without integrity but doing so over a period of time molds you into a lower life form.

I know as I spent 20 years in the news business as a reporter, investigative reporter, sports editor and managing editor for a daily newspaper, and owner of a community publishing company.

In the end, she ditches the job when she realizes that life without her boyfriend, her friends and family are not worth the price of being exclusive. Her career move into the fashion world pushes people out of her life as her career demands suck time away from all her other relationships. She ends up getting a job offer as a journalist with the New York Mirror, a real newspaper that ceased publishing in 1898.

I want to believe this film has a more serious message about commitments by young adults, but Andy slinks back to her live-in boyfriend, who has secured a new position as a sous-chef in another city. The film does not make it clear whether Andy goes with her boyfriend, stays in New York with her new job, or visits him in his new digs when she wants companionship.

July 28, 2008

"DodgeBall" Had a $20 Million Budget, Made $167 Million, and Is Simply Terrible

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story – 1 Star (Terrible)

Only in Hollywood could a really terrible film with Ben Stiller that cost $20 million to produce pull in $167 worldwide. Welcome to "DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story", which Dreamworks and MGM passed on and Fox finally agreed to make when Stiller reduced his salary to less than a $1 million.

After seeing the unrated version of this comedic disaster, it would be difficult to recommend DodgeBall for viewing by youngsters at any rating.

There is a comedy in this script somewhere, but it will never rank as anything but a rank comedy with all of the unnecessary filthy language and sexual references that one might hear from teenage boys caught off guard in a public schoolyard.

Credit the writer/director of this film—Rawson Marshall Thurber—for the sophomoric script and juvenile directing. Thurber joins a host of other writer/directors who are totally beyond their ability in trying to write and direct the same film. In Thurber's case, there is a real question whether he could do either, never mind both.

Thurber joins a not-so-exclusive club of fellow writer/directors who have fallen short, including Peter Weir for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Nancy Meyers for Something's Gotta Give, Thomas Bezucha for The Family Stone, Michael McGowan for Saint Ralph, Jared Hess for Napoleon Dynamite, Robert Rodriquez for Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and Paul Thomas Anderson for Punch-Drunk Love. The worst of these is Punch-Drunk Love hands down.

If you want an excellent movie by a writer/director, try Secondhand Lions by Tim McCanlies or Waking Ned Devine by Kirk Jones.

DodgeBall is the story of two guys who own health fitness centers—the underachiever Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn) at Average Joe's Gymnasium, and the egomanical White Goodman (Ben Stiller) at Global Gym. White hatches a plan to take over Peter's operation with the help of bank employee Kate Veatch (Christine Taylor), who falls for Peter's inept, unassuming charm.

To avoid being put out of business, Peter must come up with $50,000 and he, of course, doesn't really have a cent to his name. It is up to his band of misfit clients to help bail Peter out. They include a self-styled pirate, a scrawny nerd with eyes for an unattainable cheerleader, a weird follower of obscure sports, a dim-witted young man, and a cocky know-it-all.

Their answer is to enter a national dodgeball tournament in Las Vegas and capture the $50,000 winner's prize. Peter's team ends up in the finals against White's professional team and, well, you can surmise who wins in the end.

DodgeBall has cameo appearances by Lance Armstrong, Chuck Norris, William Shatner and David Hasselhoff.

DodgeBall was nominated as the Best Sports Movie by the ESPY Awards, the same year that "Million Dollar Baby" won an Oscar at the Academy Awards for the year's Best Picture. Clint Eastwood won an Oscar the same year for Best Director of Million Dollar Baby.

On the other hand, Ben Stiller (as White Goodman) was nominated for a Razzie Award as the Worst Actor. That pretty well sums up Stiller's performance.

In essence, DodgeBall is without substance as a fluffball contribution to comedy filmmaking, and is probably best viewed by teenagers and young men.

March 6, 2008

Don Juan DeMarco – 4 Stars (Excellent)

"Don Juan DeMarco" is a neat, compact, engrossing film that not only is fantastic entertainment but also tests your sense of reality. Somehow, sadly, it got lost in its limited exposure and lack of commercial success to be all but forgotten as a great moviemaking effort.

I am here to resurrect it and sing the praises of Johnny Depp as Don Juan DeMarco.

Released in 1995 as an independent film, Don Juan DeMarco is the story of John R. DeMarco, a man who believes he is Don Juan, the greatest lover in the world. Clad in a loose cloak with a mask, he arrives in New York in search of his lost love, Dona Ana (Geraldine Pailhas).

Distraught at not finding her, he attempts to commit suicide from atop a billboard, only to be talked down by the soon retiring psychiatrist Dr. Jack Mickler (Marlon Brando). Dr. Mickler has exactly 10 days to bring DeMaco back to reality or he will likely never get out of the psychiatric hospital where he is being held for evaluation.

Dr. Mickler is required to give DeMarco meds immediately but chooses not to do so. DeMarco's impact on Dr. Mickler and the staff is immediately apparent, and he is so convincing as Don Juan that even Dr. Mickler is affected as he reevaluates his own life and marriage to his wife Marilyn (Faye Dunaway).

This movie is too good to give away what happens next.

The transformation of people around Don Juan DeMarco is remarkable. He is intoxicating and uplifting. There is a reason why Johnny Depp is credited with being one of the most versatile actors in the film business, and why the films featuring him have grossed more than $4.7 billion worldwide.

Director Jeremy Leven also wrote the script, which included some work by Lord Byron in his legendary poem "Don Juan". Dozens of Hollywood directors have tried to both direct and write a film but few have achieved as well as Leven. He joins a very short list that includes Tim McCanlies in "Secondhand Lions" and Brian De Palma in "Dressed to Kill".

To understand the power of the script, listen to the dialog of Don Juan DeMarco talking about women:

"There are only 4 questions of value in life, Don Octavio. What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same: only love."

"By seeing beyond what is visible to the eye. Now there are those, of course, who do not share my perceptions, it is true. When I say that all my women are dazzling beauties, they object. The nose of this one is too large; the hips of another, they are too wide; perhaps the breasts of a third, they are too small.

"But I see these women for how they truly are . . . glorious, radiant, spectacular, and perfect . . . because I am not limited by my eyesight. Women react to me in the way they do, Don Octavio, because they sense that I search out the beauty that lies within until it overwhelms everything else. And then they cannot avoid their desire, to release that beauty and envelop me in it."

"Have you never met a woman who inspires you to love? Until your every sense is filled with her? You inhale her. You taste her. You see your unborn children in her eyes and know that your heart has at last found a home. Your life begins with her, and without her it must surely end."

I was thinking, how did I miss this dialog when I was 20 years old and dating? No wonder hindsight and maturity are so valuable in our relationships.

Johnny Depp is an exceptional actor who shows his talent in Don Juan DeMarco. Depp is a 3-time Best Actor Academy Award nominee for his work in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", "Finding Neverland" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street". He did win the Best Actor Golden Globe for Sweeney Todd.

Don Juan DeMarco had a strong musical score by Michael Kamen, and the song "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" was nominated for both a Golden Globe and a Grammy.

Unfortunately, Don Juan DeMarco cost $25 million to produce and generated $68 million worldwide. The lack of awards and lack of bigger profit production meant less press and less exposure for the film, reducing its impact.

I thought Don Juan DeMarco and Johnny Depp were both smashingly good and deserved better. I would see this film again in a heartbeat.

Down With Love – 1 Star (Terrible)

This movie stars Renee Zellweger in a very light, fun romantic comedy placed in 1962. A fashion show for clothing styles of the 1960s. Excellent movie for clothes conscious women to watch (are there any women who are not clothes hounds?).

February 15, 2008

The Best Psychological Thriller Since "Wait Until Dark" Is "Dressed to Kill"

Dressed to Kill – 4 Stars (Excellent)

"Dressed to Kill" is the most horrific psychological thriller I have seen since "Wait Until Dark" with Audrey Hepburn as a recently blinded woman who is terrorized by a trio of thugs while they search for a heroin-stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment.

Dressed to Kill is just as tense and scary and adds the taut elements of a steamy shower scene as the female lead Kate Miller (played by none other than Angie Dickinson) pleasures herself, a sex scene in a taxi cab that is so hot and so ahead of its time that it almost explodes the vehicle, and a razor-slitting murder scene in an elevator that is beyond graphic.

This is one disturbing film involving an unhappy, undersexed wife, an anonymous lover, a psychiatrist, a psychopath, a stalker and a serial killer, not to mention female nudity, erotica, vulgarity and transsexualism.

The DVD version that I rented from Netflix had the traditional version and the uncut version; I opted for the uncut version. Despite all of its horrific elements, Dressed to Kill is an excellent production (as least the uncut version) as a psychological thriller because all of the aforementioned horror scenes actually add to the story line and as such are not sensational enough to grab attention away from the unfolding drama.

We can thank Brian De Palma for that. De Palma both wrote and directed this film with stunning results, his murder mystery is right up there with the best of the best. So many writer/director efforts result in terrible films. The film was released in 1980, 27 years ago.

In the movie, Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson), a middle-aged, sexually frustrated housewife, has a fantasy taking a shower and later that day complains to her psychiatrist Dr. Robert Elliott (Michael Caine) about her husband's pathetic performance in bed.

Kate goes to a museum and encounters a strange man (Ken Baker) who she ends up with in a taxicab on the way to his apartment for more sex. While there she discovers the man has a sexually transmitted disease and she bolts, only to return when she realizes she has taken off and forgotten her wedding ring.

After returning to the elevator she is brutally slashed to death by a tall blond woman wearing dark glasses. A high-priced call girl (Nancy Allen) is the only witness to the murder and becomes the slasher's next target. She is rescued by Kate's son Peter (Keith Gordon) who enlists her help in the scary business of solving his mother's murder.

Dressed to Kill is loaded with clever writing and clues that go right by you on first viewing. I seldom watch dramas anymore because I have seen enough in my lifetime and so many action adventure, natural disaster and drama films today are absolutely ridiculous in premise and presentation.

Fans of Angie Dickinson will be heartened to know that a body double was used in the shower scene in the film. It could just as easily have been Angie. Two years after making Dressed to Kill, when she was 50 and yet to undergo any surgery, a panel of Hollywood designers and make-up artists in 1982 ranked her first in a list of Best Female Star Bodies.

Angie said that the taxicab scene was filmed on location in New York, where several gawkers observed the scene and shouted, "Right on, Police Woman" (referring to her previous TV role as Sgt. "Pepper" Anderson in the crime drama "Police Woman").

The sex and violence in this film make it a terrible choice for viewing by anyone except adults, and then only adults who can handle these topics without being terribly impacted. This limits the film's popularity and resulted in virtually no awards for the film-making effort.

As a murder mystery I would rate Dressed to Kill as excellent and a very, very scary film.

"Ed Wood" Is a Very Strange Movie About a Very Strange Real Life Director

Ed Wood – 1 Star – Terrible

"Ed Wood" is a biographical movie about Edward D. Wood, Jr. who has been dubbed the worst director in the history of filmmaking. There is no close second and not even a distant second to Wood's "worst director" label. The movie depicts the life of Ed Wood in the 1950s and shows Wood as a very determined director with virtually no financial backing and no real talent. Wood liked to direct really bad films and enjoyed dressing as a woman on the set. He was apparently surrounded by equally inept and untalented wannabes who were broke or down on their luck. Wood made such films as "Glen or Glenda", "Bride of the Monster" and "Plan 9 From Outer Space". He was into sci-fi flicks and cross-dressing as a transvestite. He was an advocate for understanding the phenomenon of transvestism before the general public was even aware of the practice and could not spell the word. In today's world, alternative lifestyles and behavior, while still not generally accepted, are at least recognized and tolerated by some segments of the population and embraced by Hollywood. His film Glen or Glenda is apparently about a transvestite who finds little acceptance and eventually commits suicide. Despite his lack of success, Ed Wood is depicted in this biography as having an optimistic, sunny disposition. Perhaps the best part of this film is his friendship with once great but now aging and unemployed horror star Bela Lugosi (Martin Landau). Landau steals the show as Lugosi. As Best Supporting Actor, he won both the Oscar and the Golden Globe, and won 9 additional lesser awards as Best Supporting Actor. Landau's winning of the Oscar marked the first time in Academy Awards history that a performer in any category won for playing an actual movie performer. Martin Landau was that good. Director Tim Burton said that he was drawn to the story because of the similarities between Wood's relationship with Bela Lugosi and his own friendship with Vincent Price late in the actor's life. This 1994 film cost more to produce than all of Edward D. Wood's films put together, and it has been estimated that the opening title/credit sequence cost more (in unadjusted dollars) than the entire budget of any of Ed Wood's films. The film was made in black and white. Despite the accolades for this film that also picked up an Oscar for Best Makeup, I found the movie to be strange indeed. In real life Ed Wood, the director, was beyond terrible and it made the character of Ed Wood in the movie more difficult for me to accept; I just do not naturally like people who are terrible at their profession. So if I knew going in that this film would probably not be THAT likeable, why even bother? Well, try this on for size: Johnny Depp played Ed Wood, Sarah Jessica Parker played Dolores Fuller (Ed Wood's girlfriend), Patricia Arquette played Kathy O'Hara (Ed Wood's wife), Bill Murray played Bunny Breckinridge (a wannabe transsexual whose character sounds like Gore Vidal's 1970 movie "Myra Breckinridge" starring Raquel Welch), and George "The Animal" Steele played Tor Johnson. I love the work of Johnny Depp and Sarah Jessica Parker, and I remember George "The Animal" Steele as a pro wrestler on television. Depp was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe for his portrayal of Ed Wood.

"The Express" (The Ernie Davis Story) Tells About the First African American to Win the Heisman Trophy

July 30, 2008

Movie Review:

“Forrest Gump” Teaches Many Lessons, and Tom Hanks Earns Best Actor Oscar

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Forrest Gump - 4 Stars (Excellent)

"Forrest Gump" begins with a feather being lifted through the air by a breeze that brings it to the feet of Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), who is sitting at a bus stop in Savannah (GA). Gump picks it up and puts it in a "Curious George" children's book. He then begins to tell the story of his life to the first of several people who are waiting with him for the next bus.

Some of the people are great listeners and others are not, but make no mistake about it, Gump is a master storyteller. He is simple, unpretentious, honest, not bright and full of integrity. For such a humble person, his story is almost unbelievable.

Forrest wears braces on his legs to walk in childhood, eludes the bullies who taunt him, makes friends with Jenny (Robin Wright Penn) who he will pursue his entire life, meets Elvis Presley, meets three Presidents—John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, and receives the Congressional Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam, where he saves Lieutenant Dan (Gary Sinise) and loses his friend, Private "Bubba" (Mykelti Williamson).

At an anti-war rally in Washington, DC he briefly reunites with Jenny, whose life is a mess after searching for fame and pursuing a hippie lifestyle. Forrest starts a table tennis craze and becomes a nationally-known ping-pong whiz, using the money he earns to start a very successful shrimp boat business with Lt. Dan, who invests their money in Apple stock and both become wealthy in the process.

He then inspires people to jog, helps an entrepreneur create the smiley face stickers, and faces the loss of his mother (Sally Field), who tells him he must work out his own destiny. Through it all, Jenny and love eludes him. Forrest lived in turbulent times.

If you are dizzy just imagining all of this, so was I. After seeing Forrest Gump the first time I was appreciative of the film's merit, but overwhelmed by how one person could accomplish so much and be around so many famous people. After watching Forrest Gump 3 more times, I got over it and now only sing its praises.

Eventually Jenny sees Forrest running on television and writes him a letter to come see her. When he does, he discovers that Jenny has a son and is very sick. She asks Forrest to marry her, and soon after he does, she dies. He learns that he is the father of her child, and commits to raising him. When young Forrest gets on the bus for his first day of school, the white feather falls from the Curious George book he is carrying, is caught in the breeze and drifts skyward.

If you are wondering about the feather, it was real, but its performance in the movie was computer-based. The feather is important because it raises the question of whether we are all floating around accidental-like on a breeze, or if we each actually have a destiny. Forrest surmises that perhaps it is both.

Everything that happens to Forrest Gump is worth seeing, and much of what happens teaches us important lessons in life. This is a love story, a story of relationships and the story of one person in a very big world that is sometimes almost impossible to understand. All that is good and much that is bad is covered in the film.

To appreciate where Forrest Gump is coming from, learn from these memorable lines in the film:

1) Lieutenant Daniel Taylor: "Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?" Forrest Gump: "I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir."

2) Forrrest Gump: (describing Vietnam) "We was always taking long walks, and we was always looking for a guy named Charlie."

3) Jenny Curran: "Have you ever been with a girl, Forrest?" Forrest Gump: (nervously) "I sit next to them in my Home Economics class . . ."

4) Jenny Curran: "His name's Forrest." Forrest Gump: "Like me." Jenny Curran: "I named him after his daddy." Forrest Gump: "He got a daddy named Forrest, too?" Jenny Curran: "You're his daddy, Forrest."

5) Jenny Curran: "Do you ever dream, Forrest, about who you're gonna be?" Forrest Gump: "Who I'm gonna be?" Jenny Curran: "Yeah." Forrest Gump: "Aren't—aren't I going to be me?"

6) Forrest Gump: "I'm not a smart man . . . but I know what love is."

7) Forrest Gump: "Mama always said life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." This line was voted 40th among the Top 100 Movie Quotes by the American Film Institute. In 2007, The AFI rated Forrest Gump as the 76th Greatest Movie of All Time.

8) Forrest Gump: "Stupid is as stupid does."

Tom Hanks patterned his accent after young Forrest (Michael Conner Humphreys, who actually talked that way).

Forrest Gump was an immensely successful film, with a production cost of $55 million and a worldwide gross of $677+ million. After its release in 1994, it became the fastest grossing Paramount film to reach the $100 million, $150 million and $200 million marks, and passed $250 million in 66 days.

Even more important, Forrest Gump won 6 Oscars at the Academy Awards—for Best Picture, Tom Hanks for Best Actor, Robert Zemeckis for Best Director, Eric Roth for Best Screenplay based on Winston Groom's novel, Arthur Schmidt for Best Film Editing, and Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum and Allen Hall for Best Visual Effects.

Forrest Gump also picked up another 7 Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Gary Sinise), Best Original Musical Score (Alan Silvestri), Best Set Decoration, Best Cinematography (Don Burgess), Best Makeup, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects Editing.

Among its other 32 wins and 38 nominations were 7 Golden Globe nominations and wins for Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture.

As is true with just about any other award-winning production, many famous professionals passed on the opportunity to be part of the success. Terry Gilliam and Barry Sonnenfeld were offered the chance to direct the film. Bill Murray was considered for the role of Forrest, Chevy Chase turned down the role of Forrest, and three others turned down the role of Bubba—David Alan Grier, Dave Chappelle and Ice Cube.

Tom Hanks said that he would make the film only if all the events that took place were historically accurate. For example, when Gump calls to report the Watergate burglary, the security guard on duty answers the phone by saying, "Security, Frank Willis." Willis was the actual guard on duty that night who discovered the break-in that led to Richard Nixon's resignation from the Presidency.

Tom Hanks is one incredible, bankable actor. While Forrest Gump grossed $677 million and is far and away his biggest box office success, he has been involved in 19 other films grossing $100+ million, and he ranks 3rd among all actors appearing in films with $3.3 billion generated.

Forrest Gump was directed by Robert Zemeckis, with the screenplay written by Eric Roth based on Winston Groom's novel. I really liked Forrest Gump and I think you will too. If you have seen it before, revisit it again and relive the magic moments of hope, courage, patience, love, understanding and compassion—all of which give special meaning to our life.

Read more of my movie reviews on families, including:

"A Christmas Story"

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding"

"Secondhand Lions"

"The Chorus (Les Choristes in French)"

"Waking Ned Devine"

These are all excellent films that can make you smile, laugh, cry and feel better for the experience. Don't just live life, experience life!

November 29, 2006

Ghost – 3 Stars (Good)

Ghost is everything that is right about a really scary movie. There are clearly good guys and bad guys, there is uncertainty about whether all of the good guys will be standing at the end of the movie, there is romance, there is sacrifice, there is redemption, there is the surreal to deal with, there is trying to stay grounded in reality, there is good and evil, and there is the eternal question of whether good will triumph in the end.

 Ghost begins innocently enough as Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore) have a romance heading toward marriage when he is killed by a thug during a mugging. Upon death Sam experiences an out-of-body awareness that he has not left this world, he can see as if he is here, but no one can see or hear him.

Sam does not realize that Carl (Tony Goldwyn), his co-worker at the bank, has hired Willie (Rick Aviles) the mugger to relieve Sam of his wallet, which contains the passwords to the bank accounts of well-heeled customers. Carl needs the passwords because he is tied to a drug money laundering operation and will be killed if he does not accomplish the transaction on time.

Only later does Sam hear his friend Carl scold Willie for bungling the job by not getting the passwords and killing Sam in the process.

Sam then realizes that Molly is Carl and Willie's next target because they think the passwords remain in Molly's apartment. Sam is temporarily able to keep Molly out of harm's way but must find a way to communicate to her the danger that lurks ahead.

Oda Mae goes a little crazy with her new newfound ability, but eventually, with Sam's help, warns Molly of her imminent danger. Carl wants the passwords and will kill Molly to get them, especially after Sam and Oda Mae thwart his ability to move money through the bank.

The ending to Ghost is simply too good and too surprising to share here, the suspense is spellbinding and the result is worth the trauma. Ghost is a romantic movie set as a drama with danger. Ghost also gets better as it goes along, so you need to hang in there to appreciate what happens.

Ghost is a movie we want to believe. We buy into it because of Sam and Molly's relationship, we grab it and hold on when tragedy strikes, then we want to let go when danger sets in, and Ghost will not let us go, we are doomed to ride with the eventual fate of the story. The ending proves this is a great movie that is worth our attention, hence our fervent and subtle imagination is satisfied and at rest when the curtain closes.

I almost gave Ghost a 4, my highest ranking, but kept it at 3, reserving the right to raise its ranking at a later date, something that is certain to happen should I have any out-of-body experiences in my future.

Gods and Generals – 1 Star (Terrible)

This so-called historical epic finds Director-Producer Ron Maxwell taking 3 hours and 49 minutes (yes, you read correctly) to re-tell the story of the Civil War from its beginning in 1861 through the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Yikes.

Ted Turner wanted this film done real bad, he coughed up the entire $60 million budget to make it happen. Hopefully, he did not fall asleep watching the result of his investment. As near as I can tell, this effort earned virtually no recognition or accolades, and rightly so.

The Netflix postscript tells us that the film is about Confederate General Robert E. Lee (played by Robert Duvall) and Colonel Joshua Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels), a Bowdoin College professor from Maine who becomes the central character representing the Federal (Union) troops.

Showing the battle scenes does not do squat for this film; having a narrator is the only way to explain the action so it makes sense to the first-time viewer. I really think Maxwell (the director/producer) was more impressed with his own effort than the subject matter.

If Maxwell wants to see a good presentation of the subject matter, he should watch Ken Burns’ documentary on the Civil War (I suspect he did and decided to make it into a movie, ‘nuff said. He just did not make a very good movie).

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo in Italian) – 4 Stars (Excellent)

After enjoying unexpected commercial success with "A Fistful of Dollars" and "For a Few Dollars More", Italian Director Sergio Leone ends his trilogy of "Spaghetti Westerns" with "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly".

Amazingly, even at this point in his masterful direction of western movies made in Spain, Leone would not enjoy a nickel's worth of adulation from the critics as only the Laurel Awards would give a single award to Clint Eastwood for Action Performance, and that was as runner-up.

Hollywood and its stars ignored Sergio Leone just as they have Johnny Depp. They refuse to recognize that even westerns or pirate pictures can be artfully done and have unique acting performances. Clint Eastwood is The Man With No Name, and Johnny Depp is the perfect pirate as Captain Jack Sparrow. There will never be another equal of either in these roles.

At least one film director, screenwriter and actor—Quentin Tarantino—has identified Leone's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly as "the best-directed film of all time." It was Tarantino who gave moviegoers "Reservoir Dogs". "Pulp Fiction" and "Kill Bill (Vol. 1 and Vol.2)" among others.

But back to Leone, who helped write the screenplay with mostly Luciano Vincenzoni. It was Vincenzoni who came up with the premise for the film—three rogues looking for some treasure at the time of the America's Civil War—and its title.

The triangle of rogues included The Good (Clint Eastwood, a professional gunfighter referred to as "Blondie" in this film who would become The Man With No Name in subsequent western films spun off of his character), The Bad (Lee Van Cleef, a self-centered hit man referred to as "Angel Eyes") and The Ugly (Eli Wallach, a self-centered outlaw referred to as "Tuco").

Long story short, the plot involves first establishing the three rogues as bona fide killers. Blondie then becomes a pseudo bounty hunter in partnership with Tuco, turning him in for the bounty, rescuing him before he is hanged, and repeating the process until Blondie leaves Tuco in the desert to die. Tuco survives, and lives to find Blondie and return the favor.

As Blondie is about to die while being forced to walk across the desert by Tuco, they are interrupted by an out-of-control, driverless carriage loaded with dead bodies. Except one body, Bill Carson, lives long enough to tell Tuco where $200,000 in gold is buried in exchange for water. While Tuco goes for water, Carson tells Blondie the exact grave in a cemetery where the gold can be found. Suddenly they have a compelling reason to become partners again.

Dressed in the Confederate uniforms of the dead men, Tuco takes Blondie, who is near death, to a local Catholic mission run by Tuco's brother, a priest. Blondie's recovery goes well, but Tuco's reconciliation with his brother does not.

Blondie and Tuco leave the mission and end up being captured by Union soldiers, and taken to a prison camp where Angel Eyes (now a Union sergeant) takes personal charge of torturing the captives. Angle Eyes is aware of the gold, has his enforcer beat Tuco senseless, and learns the name of the cemetery. He then turns Tuco in for the bounty, frees Blondie (who knows the exact location) and he and his gang of 5 thugs head for the cemetery with Blondie.

Tuco manages to escape on the way to his hanging, turns up in a town the Union forces have bombed silly, and runs smack into Blondie, Angel Eyes and his band of 5. Blondie and Tuco manage to kill all 5 thugs as Angel Eyes escapes, and now all three are headed for the cemetery.

On their way to the cemetery, Blondie and Tuco run into a full blown Civil War battle over a bridge crossing a river to the cemetery. They witness the continual carnage, blow up the bridge, and then the soldiers from both sides—as well as Blondie and Tuco—move on.

Once in the cemetery, it is inevitable that the three rogues face off in one of the greatest western showdowns ever filmed. The confrontation is full of Leone's masterful panoramic shots, extreme close-ups and clever sequence of final events. If you have not seen this film, you must, it may be the greatest western film ever made. If you have seen it, you should see it again to better appreciate Sergio Leone's masterful direction.

There are many great moments in this film. Two of my favorites involved Tuco. In the first, while Tuco is in the bombed-out town, he manages to find a bathtub and take a bath. While doing so, a bounty hunter (remember than Tuco still has a price on his head) confronts him buck naked in the tub.

At the start of the film, the bounty hunter is one of three gunmen who confront Tuco and Tuco shoots all three. The one that confronts Tuco lost his right arm but lived and now shoots with his left arm. He reminds Tuco of his distress and, while doing so, Tuco kills him with his gun that is hidden beneath the bubble bath water. Tuco then utters this memorable line: "When you have to shoot, shoot, don't talk."

The other scene I love is when Tuco walks miles and miles out of the desert and into a town with a gun shop in front of him. After dousing himself in a water trough, he confronts the proprietor, remakes a pistol out of parts from three other pistols, and then steps outside to test the weapon.

He hits three standing figures downrange, turning them sideways, and then fires three shots to cut each in half. Two figures fall immediately and the third remains standing. Tuco takes a mouthful of whiskey, and then jumps and as he lands, the third target falls. This is a guy film, and you really need to be a guy to fully appreciate what I am sharing here. Tuco's role in this scene helped invent the word cool.

Moviegoers watching this film at the time were not aware that Eli Wallach (Tuco) was nearly killed three times while playing his part.

He was almost poisoned on the set after drinking acid used to burn the bags filled with gold coin so they would rip open easier when struck with a spade. A film technician had poured the acid into a lemon soda bottle and Wallach didn't know it. He drank a lot of milk and finished the scene with a mouth full of sores.

In another scene where Wallach was about to be hanged while on a horse, the rope was severed by a pistol shot but the frightened horse galloped for almost a mile with Wallach's hands tied behind him and the noose still taut around his neck.

In a third scene, in order to cut off his handcuffs from his captor, Wallach places his captor on the railroad tracks and waits for a train to come by and break the chain attached to the cuffs. He was within a foot of track and ducks his head to the ground as the train rolls by. The entire film crew and Wallach were unaware that heavy iron steps jutted out from each box car and any of the numerous box cars with iron steps would have decapitated Wallach had he lifted up his head.

Wallach would later acknowledge and complain in his autobiography that safety on the set was not one of Leone's primary concerns in directing the picture.

For the record, Tuco's full name in the film script was Tuco Benedito Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez.

Because Sergio Leone spoke barely any English and Eli Wallach spoke barely any Italian, the two communicated in French. Because an international cast was employed, only Eastwood, Van Cleef and Wallach spoke in English, and were dubbed in Italian for the debut release in Rome. All other international cast members spoke mostly French or Spanish and were dubbed later. This accounts for the fact that none of the dialogue in the film was completely in sync.

Here are three interesting facts from the film for guys:

1) The cache of gold in the film was $200,000, which does not seem like a lot of money today. However, gold was $20+ an ounce in 1862 and was $628 an ounce in 2006, so the gold was really worth more than $6 million in today's money.

2) In the film, Blondie (Clint Eastwood) used a Colt 1851 cartridge conversion revolver with silver snake grips, and a Winchester 1866 "yellow boy" with ladder elevated sights. Angle Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) used a Remington 1858 Army percussion revolver. Tuco (Eli Wallach) used a Colt 1851 Navy percussion revolver with a lanyard. The soldiers used Gatling guns with drum magazines and Howitzer cannons.

3) Clint Eastwood wore the same poncho without replacement or cleaning during all three of Leone's spaghetti westerns. In the second film (For a Few Dollars More) you can visibly see that his poncho was mended after being pierced by 7 bullet holes from Ramon's Winchester in A Fistful of Dollars. The mended area, originally on the left breast, is worn over Eastwood's right shoulder blade in For a Few Dollars More.

From virtually no acclaim at the time, Sergio Leone's "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" is now regarded as a classic by many critics. It was part of Time's "100 Greatest Movies" of the last century, and it is one of the few films which enjoy a 100% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes (rottentomatoes.com). The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is currently ranked no less than 5th among the Internet Movie Database Top 250, all of which is not too shabby for an Italian guy directing an American Western.

Even master movie critic Roger Exert gives Leone his just due as an excellent director, and acknowledges two other Sergio Leone films as unquestioned masterpieces—"Once Upon a Time in the West" (1968) and "Once Upon a Time in America" (1984).

Sergio Leone was born into the cinema. His father was Roberto Roberti (aka Vincenzo Leone), one of Italy's cinema pioneers, and his mother was actress Bice Valerian. Sergio Leone was born in Rome in 1929 and died in Rome in 1989 from a heart attack. He remains one of the great directors in film history.

Read more of my movie reviews on action adventure films, including:

"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" with Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow

"Pirates of the Caribbean: "Dead Man's Chest" with Johnny Depp as the perfect pirate

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" with Johnny Depp

"The Departed" with megastars Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon

Mystery Drama - Very brainy film but made by the British so it suffers in diction and presentation. Very well acted. I had to see this film twice to even begin to pick up on everything (including the clues) that was going on.

Hercule Poirot - After the Funeral – 3 Stars (Good)

Soon after attending her brother's funeral, Cora Gallaccio turns up dead, leaving Hercule Poirot to unravel the clues behind the murder, and the motive. After the Funeral is a very complicated mystery that underscores Agatha Christie's ability to hold your attention as Poirot unravels two murders.

This made-for-TV movie is based on one of the 41 murder mystery novels involving the proper, obsessive little Belgian inspector Hercule Poirot. The character of Poirot (played to perfection by David Suchet) was created by the famous British author Agatha Christie, whose books only have been outsold by Shakespeare and the Bible.

Agatha Christie wrote her first Poirot novel in 1920 at the age of 30 and her last Poirot novel in 1975, 55 years later and a year before her death in 1976. In After the Funeral, Cora Gallaccio turns up dead the day after attending her brother’s funeral. As the plot unfolds, it turns out that her brother was also murdered, and all 6 primary relatives appear as excellent suspects. I love the Hercule Poirot series of movies and have seldom been disappointed in the works of Agatha Christie and David Suchet who brings her work to perfection in his characterization of Poirot.

In watching these murder mysteries involving Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie makes sure that nearly everyone is seen as a logical suspect and spreads clues around like chocolates in a candy shop. The game for me is to try and figure out who the killer is before it is all explained by Poirot at the end of each murder mystery.

I am never able to figure it out, much less all of the actual details of how, when and why, which is exactly why Hercule Poirot generally gets at least 3 stars in my review. The other reason is David Suchet who polishes the role of Hercule Poirot without ever going out of character or missing a cue. Suchet was born to play this role and makes Hercule character unforgettable to viewers around the world. Any Hercule Poirot presentation by David Suchet is a good look and a good movie.

Perhaps the only greater mystery than why Hercule Poirot is as he is, is how Agatha Christie managed to be so creative that no one ever figures out who did it before Poirot, and, in the process, keeps us attacted to the action like a bee to pollen. Here are more mysteries in the series:

Hercule Poirot - Dumb Witness – 4 Stars (Excellent)

Poirot (David Suchet) receives a letter from Emily Arundell (Ann Morrish), a wealthy woman who believes someone is trying to kill her, and before Poirot can consult with her, she dies. Two of her nieces and one nephew would stand to inherit a fortune, but a late change in her will gives all of her wealth to her companion and friend, Miss Lawson. The Dumb Witness turns out to be Arundell's clever terrier dog, and Hercule Poirot could not solve this murder without the help of the terrier, who cannot talk but does act out in a way that leads Poirot to the killer. "This dog is very clever," says Poirot, "he must be Belgian."

Hercule Poirot - Peril at End House – 3 Stars (Good)

Poirot's vacation trip to Cornwall becomes a business trip when the charming Nick Buckley casually mentions that she has narrowly escaped death three times in three days. Poirot (David Suchet) is not so sure about the presumed accidents and, sure enough, Nick's cousin Maggie is shot dead while getting a coat. Poirot, of course, sorts it all out in the end.

This mystery is a classic for me as it includes the regulars from the A&E series: Poirot's sidekick Captain Arthur Hastings (Hugh Fraser), Chief Inspector Japp from Scotland Yard (Philip Jackson) and Poirot's secretary Miss Lemon (Pauline Moran). The hapless Miss Lemon absolutely adores Hercule, but he who misses nothing that is going on, never gives a hint that he even recognizes her unspoken romantic interest. Hercule usually puts stamps into a collector's book or counsels himself on the art of exercising his gray cells.

Hercule Poirot - Cards on the Table – 3 Stars (Good)

English mystery writer Agatha Christie must have had her gray cells working overtime in 1936 when she created Cards on the Table, another crime novel featuring her clever little Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.

This made-for-TV movie is notable in that Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) says at one point, "The question is, can Hercule Poirot possibly be wrong?" "No one can always be right," Mrs. Lorrimer replies. "But I am! Always I am right. It is so invariable it startles me. And now it looks very much as though I may be wrong," laments Poirot, "and that upsets me. But I should not upset, because I am right. I must be right because I am never wrong."

In this case, it is not the what, but the who, that causes Poirot's confusion. Poirot is at an exhibition when he meets Mr. Shaitana (Alexander Siddig), a wealthy collector of the finest "specimens" in the world of crime: the people who do not get caught because they commit the perfect murder. Siddig does an excellent job of playing Shaitana, who comes off in the movie as sleazy and uneasy to be around.

Shaitana invites Poirot to dinner to meet his "collection" which turns out to be four sleuths and four people who he believes have gotten away with murder. The sleuths include Poirot, Scotland Yard's Superintendent (David Westhead), a colonel from His Majesty's Secret Service (Robert Pugh) and a popular mystery novelist (Zoe Wanamaker).

The guests begin to play bridge when Shaitana is murdered with a small stiletto. It is the job of the sleuths to identify the murderer, all of whom are murder suspects. All four had the opportunity, and all four had something to hide. The sleuths learn little from their interrogation. Shaitana is in the room where the four suspects are playing bridge when he is murdered, and it is known that no one entered the room before Shaitana was killed. It turns out that none of the suspects actually killed Shaitana, and he did not stab himself.

It is unusual to see Poirot be flummoxed over a murder investigation. He tends to be very thorough, detailed and workmanlike in his approach, and exudes patience and confidence in his eventual ability to explain all of the details that the others miss. In Cards on the Table, Poirot almost meets his match in the mysterious Mr. Shaitana, who apparently will go to any lengths to prove his fascination with the perfect murder.

To learn what really happened, you will have to see the movie, it is too good to give away here. Agatha Christie wrote 41 murder mystery novels over a 55-year period. She remains one the greatest novelists of all time.

Hercule Poirot - The Mystery of The Blue Train – 3 Stars (Good)

The Mystery of The Blue train finds Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) boarding the train for the Riviera, the Mediterranean coastal region from Marseilles in France to La Spezia in Italy, noted for its beauty and climate, and the site of many resorts. Katherine Grey (Georgina Rylance), a young English woman who has recently inherited a fortune, is also on board the trip to Nice.

She meets Ruth Kettering (Jamie Murray), an American heiress with marital problems and the owner of a world-famous ruby. Kettering is accompanied by her husband, her lover and her maid. Rufus Van Aldin (Elliott Gould of MASH fame) is Kettering's father. He thinks both his daughter's husband and her lover are scoundrels. Added to the cast are some of the young woman's money-grubbing distant relatives.

What happens is hardly surprising. Ruth Kettering is brutally murdered in her compartment and her ruby is stolen. Poirot, of course, sorts this mess out and finds the killer. There are reports that Agatha Christie felt this book, which became a made-for-television movie, was not her best work. I felt The Mystery of The Blue Train was no better or worse than many of her other works, the majority of which I consider good.

Hercule Poirot - Death in the Clouds – 2 Stars (Average)

Death in the Clouds is the first film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot series that I consider an average effort. This movie gives us a murder in the sky as a ruthless blackmailer is killed by a poison-tipped dart during a flight full of likely suspects. The victim is Madame Giselle (Jenny Downham) who has a troop of people ready to kill her. Madame Giselle is privy to too much insider information that could embarrass or destroy the careers of her money targets. I found this script to be over the top with simply too many suspects and too much meaningless detail. It is the only Hercule Poirot mystery that made me annoyed with the story line. The method of the killing is really hard to believe, and therefore I give this film an average rating.

Hercule Poirot - Sad Cypress – 3 Stars (Good)

Sad Cypress presents a suspected "murderer" with so much incriminating evidence that it seems unlikely that she did not do it. Even Hercule Poirot (David Suchet) has cause to question the innocence of Elinor Carlisle (Elisabeth Dermot Walsh). This clever whodunit begins with the engagement of Elinor to Roddy Winter (Rupert Penry-Jones), an unsettling jerk who Elinor actually loves, proving that not only does love many times lack judgment but that it can also be blind. Elinor receives an anonymous letter alerting her that someone is trying to curry favor with her wealthy aunt, Laura Welman, from whom both Elinor and Roddy expect to inherit a sizable fortune. They visit their sick aunt to see if the claim has any merit and find Mary Gerrard (Kelly Reilly), the lodge keeper's daughter has in fact become a major interest of their aunt.

Laura Welman suffers a second stroke and seeks to change her will, presumably to give some of her money to the attractive young Mary, but dies intestate during the night. Elinor ends up with her entire estate as the only surviving blood relative and becomes a clear suspect in what is really a murder. Roddy's wandering eye focuses on Mary, and he decides to break off his engagement to Elinor who is understandably crushed.

Then Mary ends up murdered as Elinor is making her sandwiches for lunch, and Elinor becomes a suspect again as a woman scorned. It turns out that both of the victims were administered morphine, apparently by Elinor, who could have easily taken the bottle of morphine that was missing from the nurse's bag. Elinor had the means, the motive and the opportunity to do them both in. A trial finds Elinor guilty and facing death as punishment.

Enter Dr. Peter Lord (Paul McGann) who is in love with Elinor and certain of her innocence. He has asked Hercule Poirot to consider the seriousness of the original letter that points to young Mary as a possible victim before the wealthy Mrs. Welman is killed. Poirot is as intelligent as he is studious. He wonders why Elinor would go to the gallows if she were innocent, yet Elinor is a woman who has lost the love of her life, is filled with hatred for Mary who had stolen her fiancée, and has little will to live.

In examining a torn pharmaceutical label that was supposed to have held the poison morphine hydrochloride Poirot discovers that it actually held apomorphine hydrochloride, an emetic that causes vomiting. It is then that Poirot turns his attention to Nurse Hopkins (Phyllis Logan), who served tea when Mary ate her sandwich. Hopkins laced the tea with morphine and then she and Mary drank it. Hopkins then excused herself to administer a shot of the emetic to induce vomiting.

In the end, Poirot discovers—through Nurse Hopkins—that Mary is not the daughter of the lodge keeper, but rather Mrs. Welman's daughter which would have made Mary heiress to Mrs. Welman's estate since she was a closer relative than Elinor. Mary was the love child of a tryst with Sir Lewis Rycroft. Nurse Hopkins had encouraged Mary to write a will before her death, and had Mary name her aunt Mary Riley from New Zealand as the beneficiary.

 When Nurse Hopkins learns that Poirot is on to her case, she attempts to share her morphine-laced tea with him, but Poirot fakes being ill and thankfully the authorities stop her short of attacking Poirot with a needle as well.

When you learn that Mary Riley married (and then later killed) a man called Draper, and that Mary Draper is none other than Nurse Hopkins then you understand why Nurse Hopkins killed both Mrs. Welman and Mary. The story ends with Dr. Peter Lord and Elinor likely headed toward marriage, so the sad cypress Elinor who was a symbol of mourning is about to blossom where she is planted with Dr. Peter Lord on her arm and in her heart.

November 26, 2007

The Holiday – 3 Stars (Good)

Christmas is coming soon and everybody is busy getting ready for another holiday season. A movie can be great comic relief. We want to be entertained and interested by a story that keeps us attentive and has a happy ending.

Nancy Meyers delivers what we need as the writer/director of "The Holiday", a romantic comedy with Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black and Eli Wallach. Described by one viewer as the "Swiss Chocolate of Romantic Comedies", it certainly qualifies as its only winning award was the Teen Choice Award for Best Chick Flick.

Actually, I found The Holiday to be a tad more than just a chick flick. As a student of relationships it provided a happy ending to the dilemma of women who get involved in a relationship with men who almost appear interested but invariably cheat.

The premise of The Holiday is pretty simple. Stuck in impossible relationships with two-timing men, Los Angeles resident Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and Londoner Iris (Kate Winslet) decide to swap homes over the Christmas holiday in an effort to forget their troubles.

Both Amanda and Iris find themselves in unusual circumstances and are forced to come to grips with who they are and what they want in a relationship. Amanda must look inward to find the emotion that escaped her in her youth, and Iris must look outward to get over being self-absorbed in her perfect relationship that does not exist.

Amanda, the owner and creative force of a movie-trailers editing firm in face-paced Tinseltown, dumps her cheat Ethan (Edward Burns) and finds herself even lonelier in a cottage in Surrey (near London) when she meets Iris' brother Graham (Jude Law), a widower with two daughters. She has not cried tears since the breakup of her parents when she was a teen.

Iris is a writer of some note with The Telegraph newspaper in London. She pines for Jasper Bloom (Rufus Sewell), who uses her for three years but then gets engaged to a co-worker at The Telegraph. Jasper is a self-centered, self-absorbed cad with no heart and no mind who satisfies his most needy body part. Iris is too in love to see straight.

Iris meets Arthur Abbott (Eli Wallach), an accomplished movie writer in Beverly Hills who you would love to have as your great grandfather. Arthur tells Iris that "in the movies we have leading ladies and we have best friends. You, I can tell, are a leading lady, but for some reason you are behaving like the best friend."

Eventually Iris meets Miles (Jack Black), a film composer who suffers from the same ill-fated relationship troubles as Iris, and the two form a gentle bond of assured happiness.

The chemistry between Amanda and Graham is excellent, and The Holiday benefits from some great Christmas music and good direction by Nancy Meyers.

Guys are not going to go mushy over this film but would do well to pay attention to what girls really want. The Holiday is a great film for the Christmas season, it will not stress your emotions but will fill you up with good feelings.

Editor's Note: Read my other reviews on romantic comedies, including "Something's Gotta Give" (written and directed by Nancy Meyers) and "What Women Want" (directed by Nancy Meyers).

"How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" Has a Poor Script, Poor Acting & Poor Directing

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days – 1 Star (Terrible)

This romantic comedy stars Kate Hudson. Of course, she does not follow through on losing the guy in 10 days, she finds him, he finds her, and he makes it happen for both of them. Forget the script, the acting and the directing. OK to see it once.

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