The Secret of the Sword Premiere Event

The spirit of ballyhoo was still alive in 1985 when Carmike Cinemas had two actors come dressed as He-Man and She-Ra for the local premiere of the animated feature The Secret of the Sword.  The event took place at the Brentwood Three Cinema in Brentwood, TN.

The calm before the storm in Cinema Two.

A young warrior embracing the power of Greyskull.

She-Ra!!

He-Man!!

The theater crew capturing a moment with two heroes.

Making money and selling popcorn.

The anticipation grows as the gamers swarm the arcade machines to the left.

She-Ra greeting a young fan.

Signing autographs.

Almost showtime!

"Who should I make this out to?"

Taking a break after the meet and greet.

She-Ra and He-Man

Best Netflix Watches of 2012

Smiley's People
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Attack the Block
Detective Dee & the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Puss in Boots
Moneyball
The Adventures of Tintin
Young Adult
The Three Musketeers
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Haywire
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Innkeepers
Chronicle
The Artist
John Carter
Moonrise Kingdom
Brave
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

Favorite Netflix Watches of 2011

Troll Hunter (2010)
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
The Trip (2010)
The Guild: Seasons 1-4 (2007-2010)
13 Assassins (2010)
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1980)
The Silent Partner (1978)
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973)
Cronos (1993)
The Horde (2009)

Roger Ebert  in a post discussing the fall in revenue at movie theaters for 2011 claimed that Netflix accounts for 30% of all internet traffic at night.  The correlation between seeing fewer movies in the theater and watching more Netflix is absolutely true at our house.  While I am not happy about the rise in their subscription fee, it is still an amazing deal when you consider the depth of programming available.  It is almost enough to make me consider dropping cable, but then how would I get my BBC America and HBO?

While perusing my list of watches through Netflix, I was surprised to see how few horror movies I watched, but the few that I did were exceptional.  Guillermo Del Toro's Cronos was a treat to finally catch up with and the French film The Horde was action packed and mostly intelligent take on the modern day existential zombie attack genre.  While not on the short list, I did enjoy George Romero's Survival of the Dead in spite of the odd zombie on horseback moment.  While not quite horror films, the two dark fantasies of Troll Hunter and Rare Exports were exciting takes on mythology that were full of sharp teeth to keep you wondering what lurks just beyond the pale.

While there are similarities to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai beyond the expansion of the title in Takeshi Miike's 13 Assassins, this is no homage but a bloody classic to stand side by side with the master.  And while I have not yet seen the remake, the original Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy was a nail biting thriller which kept me guessing for much of its six hour run time.  I am intrigued to see how they will boil down such a dense story.  Speaking of boiling, a couple of hardboiled crime films made the cut with Christopher Plummer's bank robbing Santa in The Silent Witness and sad sack sleepy eyed Robert Mitchum in The Friends of Eddie Coyle which only goes to show that the 1970's were the last hurrah for great character based crime films.

Finally, two of the funniest films of the year were The Trip with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon on an epicurean journey through the wilds of England and The Guild which is a web series lampooning online gamers.  Part of the brilliance of both is their ability to poke fun at themselves in the most unflinching ways possible.  Pointing the finger at someone else and laughing is easy, but looking within to make the joke is hallmark of a great comic.  While also not on the short list, the same could be said for Patton Oswalt: No Reason To Complain who laughs as much at himself as we do.  However, he is no Louis C.K., who is truly the master of uncomfortable self reflection at the moment.

My Name is Michael Caine

The Italian Job (1969)

Get Carter (1971)
Pulp (1972)

OK, so this is more of a placeholder posting, as I am still gathering my thoughts on these three films which are criminal in nature and one of which is criminally unfunny and another which is just grim.  Perhaps a cup of coffee to jog the ol' brain juices and then we can light into these.

Well now, I've got a bit of the arabica firing through the synapses, so let's walk through these, shall we?  Obviously, all three film feature Michael Caine as he was just coming into his stardom.  Now the film for which he was going to be most remembered for at this point prior to our films under discussion was Alfie (1966) where he played the titular character - a cocky young Brit who was obsessed with birds (girls) and shirking responsibility in the pursuit of a personal happiness.  Sixties hedonism at its finest!  It was a very clever movie that had a serious undertone, but was really all about the celebrating the joy of Alfie.  So, here comes Michael Caine afterwards, and you don't really want a rehash of what he has already done, yet you don't want to alienate the audience.  How about a fun caper flick?  And thus we got The Italian Job (1969).

Now for some reason,  a lot of people think that The Italian Job is brilliant.  The British film magazine Total Film ranks it as #27 on its list of all-time great British movies and the BFI ranks it #36 on its top 100 British films.  Frankly, I was let down by the movie.  Perhaps the first warning was when I noticed Benny Hill in the opening credits.  As it is, the film is trying very hard to be funny, but I wasn't warming to it.  I don't have a problem with my suspension of disbelief, so you can't blame me for that.  Caine tries his hardest to carry the rest of the cast he is surrounded by, but its either the timing or the delivery or something more intangible which just left me flat.  Noel Coward is also in the film as an imprisoned crime lord who is still very much in control and finances the heist of gold from Italy.  He loves queen and country almost as much as money, so he endeavors to help our young criminals pull off the heist.  Now perhaps here is where some of the love film originates because the movie is very pro-England to the extent that the heist takes place during a football match of England vs. Italy.  Rah rah, rule Britannia and all that.

In an earlier post I was commenting how great Quincy Jones' music was in The Anderson Tapes (1971).  Here we have an earlier soundtrack by him which I would not call a classic.  The song which plays over and over again, "The Self Preservation Society", is a mawkish attempt at humorous music with cockney overtones.  To top it all off, the cast was recruited to sing it.  Yech.  And even the incidental music tries too hard to inject levity.  It is a sledgehammer of a soundtrack.

What does work, to a degree, is the car chase which is the climax of the movie with all the little Mini-Coopers racing about Turin, Italy.  No doubt the film helped to sell a few extra cars as I know the remake in 2003 did.  They do some interesting bits with racing on roof tops which really made me question the safety of the stunts.  If you can do that, you are doing something right.  However, it is all a little too late to save the film for me.  A waste of Caine who does get to deliver the best line of the movie though: "You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!"

In stark contrast to the listless humor of The Italian Job comes the gritty revenge thriller Get Carter (1971).  Here Caine plays Jack Carter, a London hardman who has come back up north to find out what happened to his brother.  Along the way we are slowly immersed in the criminal activities of the area: gambling, prostitution and bit of other extraneous exploitations.

What a great movie!  Caine is cool as a cucumber as he extracts the information he needs to find closure.  Impecably dressed throughout, no one can sport a shotgun quite as well.  I have been wanting to watch this one for years and I'm glad to finally be able to check it off.

One of  my first exposures, though, was to the fantastic soundtrack by Roy Budd.  There isn't a xlarge orchestra, basically just keyboards, bass and percussion, but the sounds he elicits are funky, but chilling.  One of my favorite soundtracks of all time.  Here's a bit to tease you with.

Having finished watching the film, I've now embarked upon reading the original novel, Jack's Return Home, which is so far a very similiar to the movie although with much more detail.  The way I see it is that the film is a haiku to the epic gangster poetry of the novel.  What is intriguing to me though is that the author, Ted Lewis, wrote two more books about Jack Carter.  Hmmm.  They appear to be out of print and a bit pricey, but I might just have to check those out to see where they could have gone with more movies.

Speaking of more Get Carter, I have yet to see Sylvester Stallone's turn as Carter, nor I did I realize until today that there was a blaxploitation version featuring Pam Grier called Hit Man (1972)!  Wow!

To be continued... (check back shortly)...

Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)

Well, this has me more excited about a live action Green Lantern movie.  One of the things it does right is condense down the origin into the first couple of minutes.  This is all about space intrigue and the Lantern Corps.  The alien design is a lot of fun with bugs and squids and other great looking creatures.  We get to see quite a few of the Green Lantern Corps and they are even give stuff to do other than stand around - for instance, quite a few die!  Remember, kiddies, this isn't for the wee ones.  DC is making films now which feature bloody violence, alien grue, sexual innuendo, and cursing.  Thankfully, all of that plays in service of the stories and not just for titillation.
Unfortunately there isn't one of the short DC films they've been packing onto their other more recent releases, but we do get five Justice League episodes featuring the Green Lantern and one Duck Dodgers episode where he finds the suit/ring in his dry cleaning.
This was a lot of fun and comes highly recommended!

Your New Best Friend - Paul Rudd

Over the last week or so, I have found myself watching two different comedies which both star Paul Rudd. The type which he is cast as is the easy going, slightly goofy average guy that people just naturally like. He is the epitome of inoffensiveness and a natural straight man for all the wackiness which surrounds him.

The first film I watched was Dinner for Schmucks (2010) where Rudd is Tim who works for a financial investment firm and is striving to move up the ladder. After he proposes an idea to land a wealthy client, he is invited by his boss to a dinner where each guest is required to bring an unusual companion. Basically a dog fight where instead of the ugliest girl is your companion, here you have to bring the most bizarre or idiotic guest. Tim is conflicted, because public humiliation isn't the type of thing he would normally do, but then fate intervenes and he runs over Barry (Steve Carrell) in his car. Lo and behold, Barry appears to be the perfect idiot as his main hobby is building dioramas with exquisitely dressed dead mice.

One side note, though, was that the mice were created by the Chiodo Brothers who are most famous for their film Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988).  Their work on the dioramas was amazing and truly one of the highlights of the film.  If Barry was doing a crappy job of posing dead mice, that would have been beyond creepy.

Along the way we get to meet a lot of other great idiots and losers which are played by the some of the cream of the crop of modern comedy. A veritable ladle full. A soupcon of comedy such as Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover, Bored to Death) who plays Therman, Barry's arch nemesis and boss at the IRS. Then there is Jermaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) as Kieran, a narcissistic artist who specializes in highly sexualized environmental art. Additional characters are played by David Walliams (Little Britain), Kristen Schaal (Flight of the Conchords), Chris O'Dowd (The I.T. Crowd) and stand-up comedian Jeff Dunham.

The other Paul Rudd movie which I recently watched was I Love You, Man (2009). Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) has just proposed marriage to his girlfriend of 8 months and suddenly realizes that he has no male friends to stand up with him at the wedding. So, he goes in search of male friendship. He finally meets Sydney (Jason Segel - Freaks and Geeks) and they hit it off, but his fiancee starts to become uneasy about the new friendship.

This is a slightly ridiculous bromance that I can vaguely relate to in that being married does change the focus of your other relationships. You tend to concentrate on that which is most important in your life and unless you take the time to nurture other aspects, they will wither and die. :( Peter is married to his work as a real estate agent, so outside of his fiancee, there hasn't been a lot of time for other pursuits. The moral of the story is balance.

As comedies go, this one is very character situational with just a wee bit of gross out. Generally nothing too outrageous happens which makes the laughs more genuine and heartfelt. A good movie.

The Anderson Tapes (1971)

America, man! You know, it's so beautiful I wanta eat it! – "The Kid" (Christopher Walken)

The Anderson Tapes is primarily a heist film starring Sean Connery as Duke Anderson, a just got out of jail con, who wants to rob an entire upscale apartment house in NYC. His accomplices are a gay interior designer who knows how much stolen goods are worth (Martin Balsam), a young cocky kid who was in the pokey for drug posession (Christopher Walken), a cool cat wheelman (Dick Anthony), an old geezer of a con who has spent the last 40 years in jail and doesn't know anything else (Stan Gottlieb), and a patsy for the mob who is there for muscle(Val Avery). Well dear readers, as you know, complications will ensue.

If you are going to plan a robbery/heist, the Parker books by Richard Stark are a must. It helps establish the importance of planning and team work. If only Duke had read those books. First of all, he's involved with a woman (Dyan Cannon) which distracts him from staying all in on his job. Then he gets tied up with the mob boss (Alan King), thinking that the mob owes him for doing time. Parker would never go the outfit for startup money. You can't trust the machine if you want to be an independent operator. And then his motley crew is filled with loose cannons and greenhorns. You need professionals for a job of this size and the fewer people the better. Poor Duke. If only you had spent more time reading while you were in for a dime, you might have had a better chance.

One of the more interesting devices used in the storytelling is the proliferation of surveillance devices. When Duke is going around town setting up the score, he is being watched by the Narc squad, FBI, IRS, private dicks, and who knows how many other information gathering sources. Very few, particularly government agencies, are interested in him and what he is doing, even though they know something is going down. They all have ulterior motives for other cases they are working. It is interesting to note that this film came out before the Watergate scandal and the revelation of Nixon's secret tapes. If this had come a couple of years later, it would have been a big hit rather than merely prescient about our Big Brother world.

Now if it is the early 1970's and you've got a crime movie, you have better have a kickass soundtrack! And The Anderson Tapes lays a doozy on us with Q himself breaking out some solid funk mixed with a lot of beeps and boops to show how cutting edge technology could be. I loved it! There's nothing that will be a breakout hit, but for an early techno thriller soundtrack, this one is alright. In fact, I need to hunt down a soundtrack CD/LP for it.

Role Models

When I was a young lad, I had an over abiding obsession with movies. Not that anything has really changed, mind you. Since my dad was a movie reviewer for a local TV station, we went to see almost everything that came to town as part of our weekend visits, but I really liked horror movies the most. So one day he gave me an issue of American Film which had an article in it, "Whatever Happened to Showmanship?" which lamented the lack of theatricality in selling movies to the public and which focused on one of the masters of ballyhoo, William Castle. Now, this is some neat stuff to learn about when you are 16 years old. Of course, I had seen a bunch of Castle's films already such as 13 Ghosts or The Tingler. Yet, here was an article which pulled back the curtain just a bit and showed a whole new carnival atmosphere. Plus, the author went on the talk about a variety of grindhouse/art films like Crippled Masters and Warhol's 3D sex movies. A door has been opened and new horizons beckoned on the other side.



Just as important as what was being written about was who was doing the writing: John Waters. Now at this point I admit my story gets a bit fuzzy in discovering more about him. I think the first film I watched of his was probably a year or two later when I went over to a girlfriend's house to watch either Desperate Living or Polyester. And I know that I read more of his writing in future issues of American Film and saw him on late night TV talk shows. Really, what can be said about Waters other than he was a incredible independent filmmaker who was equally interested in pushing the limits of good taste and extolling the virtues of fringe culture.

Recently, Waters has published a new book, Role Models, expressing his peculiar view of the world around him. There are a number of offbeat topics in it which are interesting and conform to the accepted stereotype of John Waters such as "Outsider Porn" where we meet two edgy gay pornographers. Or "The Kindness of Strangers" which is about Tennessee Williams and the influence he had on the author. Or the obsession he has for Johnny Mathis which is the lead off piece in the book entitled "Johnny and Me".



But what is most striking is the subtle changes in John Waters as an outre human. Earlier in his life, he bragged about having a John Wayne Gacy painting. He also boasted about all the high profile trials he has attended for Patty Hearst (who now has bit parts in his films) and the Manson family. He claims in Shock Value (1981) that the Tate/LoBianca murders were the crime of the century, but he approaches it back then like a subversive theater act. Now, in Role Models (2010), he goes on at length about the friendship he has developed with on of the former Manson family members, Leslie Van Houten and how she has been denied parole over the years. You know, he might have a case as he presents it, but I'm dumbfounded by the seriousness of the piece. It is a tone which which he strikes a few times, as if he has suddenly realized the impact of some of this earlier outrageousness.

Later, in "Baltimore Heroes", we are told of a lesbian stripper and a female barkeep who would only serve the homeless. Ok, this feels like Waters territory now, you are thinking, and you are right to a point. We never get to meet this people because they are already dead. Waters is dealing with them through his own recollections and through the memories of their children. That is the crucial turn. How were these people affected by the environments in which they grew up. While they all seem to have come through OK, you can't help but ponder the instability in which they were fostered.



Even when Waters begins to talk more about culture, we are presented with a more gentrified version of the hipster salvage store concept we had known to grow and love. Talking about fashion, we meet Rei Kawakubo, an extremist designer who builds clothes with flaws in them. But sells them for thousands of dollars. This ain't no dig store where you crawl around on the ground looking for treasures! And even the art work has progressed beyond serial killers and pornography. Now we have "Roommates" like Cy Twombly, Fischli/Weiss, and Moyra Davey. Hmmm. Interesting stuff, but hardly shocking. On a side note, isn't it interesting how some famous people collect art? Dennis Hopper had a renowned collection. Vincent Price used to give talks on art. Even Steve Martin has raised his nose high and proclaimed that even a jerk can like art. Too much money? Giving back to the little people? A true appreciation for craft?





In the end, Role Models is not the same John Waters we fell in love with thirty years ago, nor should he be. Mellowed like a good wine. Yet, when what you expect is a spicy complexity which sometimes ends in sharp gag reflex, this is a bit too dry and one note. Or has the rest of the world just caught up to him?

Hollywood Ending (2002)

It has been said that you should write about what you know. Woody Allen knows movies, having written and directed over 40 films over the last 40 some odd years. Hollywood Ending is a later day entry into that Allen filmography in which he stars as Val, a once famous director now forced into doing commericials in Canada. His ex-wife (played by Tea Leoni) is now marrying a film studio executive (Treat Williams), but she still thinks Val could be a brilliant filmmaker and fights to have him direct her passion project. Of course things go pear shaped with Val becoming psychosomatically blind for the duration of filming. While not the most brilliant of Woody Allen concepts, Hollywood Ending is pleasant film fodder.

There are a handful of things that didn't work or worked against the film being more successful. First of all is the length of the movie. For what should be a madcapped, fast moving walk on the ice comedy, the movie runs almost two hours. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but a tightening/ratcheting up of the antics would have helped. Heck, lose the whole estranged son plot line. It leant nothing to the proceedings, other than a lame positing of it being the source of Val's blindness. Which it wasn't.




Secondly, the bizarre intrusion of product placement in the film. Honestly, New York City landmarks are not product placement. If Woody wants to shoot inside Bemelmans Bar, it is because that is the environment in which they would exist. But you start throwing Pepsi cans onto tables and having characters drink from them, all I can think is how much did that cost? And who had the nerve to force it on Woody? Granted, films aren't cheap, so concessions to commericalism have to be endured. In fact, the last few Allen films haven't even been shot in NYC because it has become too cost restrictive. But c'mon! Pepsi?

Lastly, and perhaps the most elusive problem, is the casting. Woody has generally always had top drawer actors and actresses populating his films, but this one seems just a little flat with two sitcom actresses playing major roles: Tea Leoni (The Naked Truth) and Debra Messing (Will & Grace). The only stand out casting for the male actors is Hollywood icon George Hamilton who has the sense to underplay his scenes and stand out all the better for them. At one point, two characters are having a discussion on the sound stage, but my attention drifts to the background where Hamilton is dozing in a chair. Brilliant! Well, maybe not, but it sure did seem to sum up the energy level of filmmaking with all the hurry up and wait it entails.

Yet, in the end, the films works for me because it still has that tonality of Woody Allen dialogue and his twitchy nervous energy. Frankly, I can't help but like the guy.

Survival of the Dead (2010)

Of course, George A. Romero is considered the grandmaster of all things zombie, but the genre has grown much larger than the low budget independent films which he started with over 40 years ago. Now we have scads of novels (both straight ahead horror and bizarrely humorous), more movies than you can shake a gore encrusted stick at, and even a weekly television series on basic cable which are all waving the zombie flag far and wide.

Over the last few years, Romero has come back to his roots as a zombie filmmaker and given us a couple of OK films: Land of the Dead (2005) and Diary of the Dead (2008). He now presents his latest, Survival of the Dead, which is an off-shoot of the film previous. In Diary, we follow a group of students who are documenting their travels in zombieland. Along the way they encounter a group of National Guard soldiers who have gone rogue and are pillaging the land they were sworn to protect. Survival follows that group of military brigands to a small island where the populace is embodying the story of the Hatfields and the McCoys with two families squaring off over long held grudges and the proper way to dispose of the dead. The O'Flynns want to kill their resurrected loved ones and the Muldoons want to teach the dead to eat animals. Well, you can sort of guess how most of this goes down and it is done with a lot of antics.

And "antics" is the right world for this film. While there are some nice moments of tension and the requisite amount of gore, the general tenor of this film is that of slapstick and situational comedy. If this isn't what Romero was trying for, then explain the explosion of the boat house which eliminates the wall and yet leaves everyone inside covered in black face? Or how about the pitchfork in the foot routine which ends in the foot becoming detached from the body? Or a just shot in the head zombie falling into a tub? You get the idea and there is more where that came from.

Overall, Survival is completely different from the other Romero zombie films, which isn't a bad thing. It probably bugs him that he has been pigeonholed in such a way, but at least it has provided him with work. While the general consensus seems to be that this film tarnishes his legend, I found it worthwhile and enjoyable on its own terms. If you don't come looking for the next Night, Dawn, or Day, you should not be too disappointed.

Report to the Commissioner

What I Watched - February 2010

Zombieland (2009)
The Invention of Lying (2009)
Black Dynamite (2009)
The House of the Devil (2009)
Coco Before Chanel (2009)
Whatever Works (2009)
I Am Waiting (1957)
Brothers McMullen (1995)
9 (2009)
Action Man (1967)
The Rock (1996)
Helen of Troy (1956)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2010)

What I Watched - January 2010

Moon (2009)
District 9 (2009)
House of Voices (2004)
Bruno (2009)
Bright Star (2009)
Pandorum (2009)
Stardust (2007)
Julie and Julia (2009)
Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009)
The Wolf Man (1941)
She (1935)
The Big Heat (1953)
5 Against the House (1955)
Murder by Contract (1958)
The Sniper (1952)
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Stick (1985)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Black Angel (1946)
Law and Order: Criminal Intent - Season One
Haunted Gold (1932)

BoxOffice 1973

The French Connection (1971)

Why are some films considered classics and others are not? Obviously it is all the elements of the film combining together to take the ordinary and push it beyond expectations into extraordinary filmmaking. One or two elements alone are generally not enough to help a film become a transcendent work of art as opposed to merely commercial fare. Lush cinematography but lousy acting, or a great script but inept mise-en-scene will rarely raise a film into the pantheon of all time best movies ever. And perhaps there aren't that many films which do achieve overall greatness in the scheme of things. The AFI Top 100 is a good launching pad even if it does leave off some and include others which might not be appropriate.



In the realm of the classic crime film, though, The French Connection (#70 on the AFI list) is considered to be near the top of the game. Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman) is a tough, rules breaking narcotics officer who's playing a hunch that a major shipment of herion is about to hit the streets of New York City. Along with his partner, Cloudy Russo (Roy Scheider), they begin following a small time hood (Tony Lo Bianco) on a twisting, dangerous path towards a French drug kingpin (Fernando Rey).



While the story is fairly standard, it is the embellishments to that make it great. In the beginning, Popeye chases an informant through the streets dressed as Santa Claus. Hackman and Scheider throw themselves into this sequence with an energy that appears near lung busting as they pump down the streets after their quarry. Another chase later on is classic surveillance footwork, with one man on one side of the street who passes off to another coming another way while someone else is waiting further down the line. Even this is played with when Popeye follows Frog One/The Frenchman onto the subway and they cat and mouse each other back and forth onto the subway car. The highlight, for many, is the full out car chasing a subway sequence. The driving is great, but it is the pulse pounding editing which really ramps this up.



All the action doesn't mean a thing without the character bits, the banter, and the sense of mind numbing police procedural details. The New York winter is as much an adversary to the cops as the drug dealers. During one of the stakeouts, Popeye gets stuck in a doorway, freezing his ass off, while the Frenchman luxuriously takes his time dining in a fine restaurant. Several times the Popeye and Cloudy get stuck in a car waiting for something to happen. If you've ever spent time in a car during the winter with it turned off, you know just how cold and miserable that can be. And while they're stuck waiting, they talk It seems simple, but this is what makes the film more immediate in its realism. This isn't Dragnet with Joe Friday working his Technicolor detail and never getting his hands dirty. The French Connection tries, and succeeds, at showing how crime is really fought.



William Friedkin's background as a documentary filmmaker is partially the reason the realism works. His use of extended takes and hand held camera work breaks down Hollywood's expectations of standard storytelling up to that point. The influence of this movie on police films and TV is not to be underestimated. In fact, the success of this film led to three other variations: The French Connection 2 (where Popeye goes to Europe and gets hooked on herion), The Seven-Ups (which features Roy Scheider in a role not unlike Cloudy), and the TV movie Popeye Doyle (starring Ed "Married With Children" O'Neill as the titular character). In many ways, though, this film and Friedkin's next, The Exorcist, would be the pinnacle of his career.



Perhaps it is also the time period which is the final influence on the greatness of this film. The 1970's were a time of risk taking and envelope pushing. Friedkin was one of the leaders of the movement, along with Penn, Altman, Coppola, Ashby, Scorsese, amongst others. The grittiness was a reaction to white washed Hollywood standards which began to erode in the 1960's. The establishment of a ratings system helped films like to be made even as they eventually began to censor them. There isn't anything that controversial by our standards today in The French Connection (and its hard to say if there was even then), but there is more freedom for the coarse language and violence which is there.

Deathwatch (2002)

A pro-war film, on a basic level, is still a treatise against war because someone always suffers. Even with the remote control wars we see waged on TV in our living rooms, the smart bombs which are supposed to extract the ones we don't particularly like still kill and/or wound people. WWI is often cited as one of the most brutally horrific wars man has engaged in. Of course the reason for this is that we had yet to write the rules by which modern day warfare would be waged. Sadly, we are those rules are still being written. While there have been quite a few films which have showcased the grimness of that time period, and while the horror film genre owes a bloody debt to that international conflict, there have been precious few horror movies set within that timeframe, if any.



- HBO's late lamented Carnivale utilized WWI in flashbacks to show the origin of a few characters, but it was never the main action.

- Edgar Ulmer's The Black Cat trods upon the bones of WWI as a backstory for the dark rites of the Satanist Poelzig (Boris Karloff), but never visits there.

- Gods and Monsters acknowledges the mental anguish which helped stimulate the nightmares of writers and filmmakers, but again on in a passing memory.

- The comic book which reads like a lost Universal Monster classic, The Black Forest, truly embraces the time period as being a fertile breeding ground for the WWI experience being a time of monsters both real and imagined.


Otherwise there really doesn't seem to be any examples of horror movies (cheating with the comic book, of course) set in the WWI theater.


That is until the recent UK/Czech co-production, Deathwatch (2002) which tries to fill the hole. Charlie Shakespeare is a sixteen year old British Private who finds himself terrified of trench warfare. After a disastrous battle, he and his squad find themselves wandering behind enemy lines. As luck would have it, they find an almost completely deserted set of German trenches which they commandeer. Taking a German soldier prisoner, they decide to wait for reinforcements despite the fact they have no contact with HQ. Overrun with viscous mud and hungry rats, there's more in the trench than meets the eye: either psychological breakdown from battle fatigue or a psychic force meting out retribution.


While low on gore and special effects, the film never looks cheap. A sprawling set was dug for the trench and the cinematography keeps things well framed and nicely lit. Add on an effective cast of actors including Jamie Bell (King Kong, Billy Elliot), Andy Serkis (Gollum from LOTR, King Kong), and the usual suspect working class British actors and there is enough weariness and short fused paranoia to spare. Doubtful they had much military training, but the gauntness and wild eyes and short fuses all add up to believability.


The ambitions of the film to imbue a supernatural overtone while suggesting simple madness is lofty and bit beyond the first time director, Michael J. Bassett. The task of marshalling an ensemble cast results in confusion for the viewer in terms of who is who and what exactly are they doing. Also, a more forceful hand might have lent greater unease as concerns the mystical forces at work as it does come off a bit too matter of fact. The deleted scenes show that the director may have had some of ambiguity imposed upon him, but it does weaken the film nevertheless. If you had to tag line the general feeling, though, I would rank it as a cross between John Carpenter's The Thing for paranoia/madness amongst the ranks and Michael Mann's The Keep for mixing war with unknown horrors. This isn't to say this is a great film, but definitely serviceable.

Five Minutes to Live (1961)

A.K.A. Door-To-Door Maniac

“People here live the kind of lives magazine ads talk about.” – Fred Dorella

The saying goes that actors want to be rock stars and rock stars want to be actors. Elvis Presley tried to emulate James Dean in his acting, but he never had the intensity like his fellow Sun Records label-mate Johnny Cash did in this, his noirish film debut. Cash is Johnny Cabot, a murderous hood hiding out in sunny Carmella Gardens after machine gunning down a cop in New Jersey. He hooks up with Fred Dorella (Vic Tayback) for a bank heist with a twist. The scheme involves Johnny holding the bank vice-president’s wife at gun point in her home while Fred goes to the bank and extorts the moolah. Everything would be perfect except that banker Ken Wilson (Donald West) is not in love with his wife, Helen (Cay Forester), anymore and plans to run away to Vegas with his mistress that night.



The film works because of Cash’s performance. His dark eyes and leering mouth make him the perfect anti-Elvis. He oozes menace with a wound-up nervous energy that crackles when he waves his hands about, caresses his guitar, or points his muffled gun. Lines are snapped with a laid back Southern drawl which purrs evil intent. When Cash first approaches Ms. Wilson, he pretends he’s a simple salesman, trying to catch flies with honey and $10 bills. But then he’s up behind her, menacing her with his gun, undressing her with his speed freak eyes. The implication of rape even comes up. This is one bad man in a suit. No black here, that would be too simple. A checkered suit for a checkered past. We even get some guitar picking and a couple of snarled songs to amp up the coming violence.

Vic Tayback is great as the partner in crime, but his haircut cries out male pattern baldness. Merle Travis, the country music genius, plays the owner of the bowling alley where the two criminals meet up and he’s pretty slick at being a low-life sycophant. The real shock is young Ronnie Howard as the precocious son of the Wilson’s who has a very dramatic moment near the end of the film.

The ending is probably the biggest let down because it doesn’t know when to stop. The script was written by Cay Forester, who also stars, and you can tell she just wanted to have more screen time than was necessary. However, the general trajectory of the story works and there is enough of a mix of humor and menace to keep the film humming along.

The version I watched on DVD was very dupey. Chandra said it felt as though you were watching a movie underwater. But it is watchable and very entertaining. I have wanted to see this film for a few years now and my anticipation did nothing to lessen the impact of finally seeing it. Well worth your time!

Broken Flowers

Part of the intrigue of a Jim Jarmusch film is the space he allows to fall between words and action. The moments of waiting for a reaction stretch on and on in an imitation of reality as opposed to constant forward momentum of typical Hollywood fare. Broken Flowers, the newest film from Jarmusch, stars Bill Murray as Don Johnston, an aging Don Juan, in search of the woman who has anonymously informed him twenty years down the line that he has a son. Murray is more understated in this performance than he has ever been. There is no mugging for the camera, no nervous energy, no puppy dog eye rolls; just stillness and slight reactions. In fact Murray could challenge Buster Keaton for the title of “Stone Face” with his turn here.

The energy of the film is derived from the women in Don Johnston’s life, the ex-lovers: Sharon Stone (widowed white trash mom), Frances Conroy (repressed hippie real estate agent), Jessica Lange (ex-lawyer turned animal communicator), and Tilda Swinton (biker chick). In fact, two of the supporting actress roles are perhaps even more memorable. Chloe Svenigy as Lange’s overprotective assistant is territorial in her rebuking of Johnston’s intrusion. The other is Alexis Dziena as the exhibitionist daughter Lolita who smolders in that peculiar naïf way that Humbert Humbert knew so well.

Also in a superb turn is Jeffrey Wright (Angels in America) as a spleef-smoking, amateur sleuth (Winston), who Mapquests the journey for Johnston and provides an excellent mix disc for him to listen to in the car. That’s one thing about Jarmusch; his taste in music is excellent. Starting with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” in Stranger Than Paradise, to the Tom Waits’ score in Night on Earth, to the jazzy tunes in Broken Flowers, he picks evocative tunes. Surprisingly there isn’t any great musician turned actor performances this time out. Mystery Train contains two such turns with Screamin’ Jay as the desk clerk and Joe Strummer.

All in all, I find Broken Flowers to be a better film than the last couple by Jarmusch. Coffee and Cigarettes was fun, but slight, as any cobbled together series of shorts made over a twenty year period would be. The best bit was probably Iggy Pop and Tom Waits hanging out together. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai was interesting, but lacked a sense of “realness” that his other films possess. Even when the ghost of Elvis shows up in Mystery Train its OK because everything else is so grounded in probability (Japanese tourists; widows transporting coffins; drunken late night shootings) that the impossibility gains weight. With Ghost Dog the “realness” of Mafioso types and an avenging African-American samurai becomes too fantastic. I can relate to the reality of playing cards, losing money at the track, and listening to the same song over and over again like in Stranger Than Paradise, but I can’t relate to killing someone. Maiming, yes. But not killing.

Tasty Wolfsbane

[Originally posted on DVDmon.com in 2000]

The Wolf Man (1941)

Film: ****
Audio: **1/2
Video: ***1/2
Extras: ****
Value: ****
Overall: ****

Studio: Universal Produced: 1941 Rated: NR Running Length: 70 min. DVD Release: 11/2/99 Video: 1.33:1 (Full-frame) Audio: English DD 1.0

Even though it comes late in the original Universal Monsters cycle, George Waggner’s The Wolf Man (1941) is rightfully a classic horror movie. The film stars Lon Chaney Jr., the son of the silent screen’s greatest horror icon, Lon Chaney. In this film, Chaney Jr. begins his own ascent into the horror movie pantheon by portraying Larry Talbot, a prodigal son returning to his homeland after years abroad. Unfortunately, while love begins to bloom for Larry in the form of Gwen Conliffe (Evelyn Ankers), so also blooms the wolfbane. After being bitten in an attack by a gypsy werewolf (Bela Lugosi), Larry has to wrestle with his fate.

To criticize a film like The Wolf Man by the standards of films which are made today is to miss a magical opportunity to enjoy classic myth-making. Of course the film is in black and white, the acting seems more stagey, and the violence is hidden from sight. These are the charms of the golden age of Hollywood. But what film made recently can boast the creepy charm of a forest ensconced with thick fog, or a small village of superstitious, torch bearing denizens? To answer my own question, Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow (1999), which is as much an homage to the classic Universal horror films as it is to the Hammer horror films of the 1950’s and 1960’s. While the look of The Wolf Man has been influential, it is the anguished monster (as in Frankenstein) which is played for the audience’s sympathy and not just for abject horror that elevates the film above other movies of its kind.

The presentation of the movie is very good with the occasional scratch or spot, but this is also a film which is almost sixty years old. Needless to say, the sound is Dolby Digital Mono. However, the DVD is yet another loaded special edition containing a half-hour documentary, Monster by Moonlight, hosted by director John Landis (An American Werewolf in London). It is very informative and gives a lengthy breakdown into how makeup artist Jack Pierce went about creating the infamous Wolf Man mask. Another bonus feature is a non-stop commentary track by film historian Tom Weaver. A highlight of his comments concerns the aborted attempt to make a werewolf movie back in the early 1930’s which would have starred Boris Karloff. If you’’ve never listened to an audio commentary, this is a great example of what they should be like. Additionally, the disc presents a montage of posters and on-set photos set to the fantastic film score by Charles Previn, Hans J. Salter, and Frank Skinner.

If you are a fan of classic monster movies, The Wolf Man is a howling good time.

Dr. No

[Originally published at DVDMon.com in 2000]

Dr. No (1963) - (Other Action)

Film: ****
Audio: ***
Video: ***1/2
Extras: ****1/2
Value: ****
Overall: ****

Studio: MGMProduced: 1963Rated: PGRunning Length: 110 min.DVD Release: 5/16/00Case: Keep Case CaseVideo: 1.78:1 (Anamorphic/Enhanced for 16x9 TV’’s)Audio: English DD 1.0, Spanish DD 1.0, French DD 1.0Subtitles: NoneRetail price: $30Low online price: $20-->

Every film series has to have a beginning, and while Dr. No is not necessarily the best of the James Bond films (From Russia with Love) nor the worst (A View to a Kill), it does hold the distinction of being the first. In this initial adventure, 007 is sent to Jamaica to investigate the disappearance of another operative. While there he uncovers the fiendish Dr. No, an ally of that international organization of evil, SPECTRE. The movie introduces the Bond aficionado to numerous elements which have come to epitomize the spy chic of the series: exotic locales, diabolical villains, buxom beauties, and rampant political incorrectness.

To a degree, it is the un-PC nature of the James Bond films which helps the series maintain a level of illicit appeal. Bond seduces no less three women through the course of the film, and flirts mercilessly with others. In a day and age where sex can equal death, this attitude seems almost naive. Misogyny aside, a truly disturbing side of Bond is the slight undercurrent of racism. The character of Quarrel (John Kitzmiller) comes off little better than one of the wide-eyed supporting roles played by Mantan Moreland (numerous Charlie Chan films and King of the Zombies). The most egregious example of is Quarrel’’s superstitious belief in the "dragon" of Crab Key. For him to be a part of voodoo would be one thing as it is a real religion, but believing in fire breathing monsters is another. (An interesting sidenote: Quarrel’’s son appears in Live and Let Die which does use voodoo as one of the story devices.) By forcing him to believe in a myth, the story strips him of emotional weight. Of course, 1962 was a world where civil rights were being fought for with real blood, not the stage variety. Such frivolities, of course, were below the radar for a spy concerned with stopping the scourge of evil.

Perhaps, I’’m taking shots at Dr. No because it is considered a classic film. It is an exciting fantasy world that Sean Connery illuminates for us with his prototypical panache. But, it is interesting to look back from the cusp of the 21st century and marvel at the simplistic and partially backwards world of 007.

The DVD is a standard bearer for other like-minded releases, offering two documentaries (one on the origin of the film series and the other on Bond’’s first director). There are also a variety of trailers, ads, photos, and posters archived on the disc. Last, but no least, is the commentary track which hosts an almost dizzying array of people involved in the production. The sound is presented in glorious monophonic splendor and letterboxed for 16x9 enhancement.

- Review By Chris Peltier