Screen grab from "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
by Sam Juliano
Temperatures in the Northeast have moved into comfort zone territory as we move into what is traditionally the most difficult part of the summer. Things couldn’t be hotter either at Wonders in the Dark, where the musical poll countdown is all set to launch on Monday, August 21st with an essay by Dennis Polifroni. After some spirited debate among voters and writers, the decision was reached to go with a countdown of 60, to be written by a wide range of writers from the site and among our close friends and affiliates. Angelo A. D’Aminio Jr. has completed tabulation, and serious preparation is now in place.
It’s been another torrid week at the theatres, as the 50 film “Pre Code” Festival continued in force at Manhattan’s Film Forum, occupying the lion’s share of the viewing time. Similarly, the Buster Keaton Festival at the same house reached its next-to-last week with a classic feature and short showcasing. I managed to see one new release with the family on Saturday: Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
This week I saw 16 films in the theatre:
Our Hospitality ***** (Monday evening) Buster Keaton at Film Forum
The Haunted House *** 1/2 (Monday evening) Buster Keaton at Film Forum
Female **** (Tuesday evening) Pre-Code at Film Forum
Cabin in the Cotton *** (Tuesday evening) Pre-Code at Film Forum
Ex-Lady *** (Tuesday evening) Pre-Code at Film Forum
Blessed Event **** (Wednesday evening) Pre-Code at Film Forum
The Strange Love of Molly Louvain *** 1/2 (Wednesday evening) Pre-Code at F.F.
Three on a Match *** (Thursday evening) Pre-Code at Film Forum
The Match King *** (Thursday evening) Pre-Code at Film Forum
Red Dust **** 1/2 (Friday evening) Pre-Code at Film Forum
Safe in Hell **** (Friday evening) Pre-Code at Film Forum
King Kong ***** (Saturday evening) Pre-Code at Film Forum
Tarzan and His Mate **** /2 (Saturday evening) Pre-Code at Film Forum
Trouble in Paradise ***** (Sunday afternoon) Pre-Code at Film Forum
Jewel Robbery **** (Sunday afternoon) Pre-Code at Film Forum
Rise of the Planet of the Apes **** (Saturday afternoon) Edgewater Multiplex
OUR HOSPITALITY is one of Keaton’s greatest features with the gag of the men always pulling out their guns when Buster prepares to leave the house one of the most enduring of all-time. The pre-code festival yielded some of the cinema’s greatest masterpieces, but I hope to have more to say down the line. RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES brings the old series into focus with an engaging and tension-packed story about what happened before the apes took control. James Franco does fine work in a starring role, but the computer generated apes are the real stars.
Alas, I was unable to update all the links this week due to all the musical poll involvement, but I have done most of them:
Tony d’Ambra heads up with a terrific capsule piece on Fred Niblo’s 1931 “The Big Gample” with Bill Boyd at FilmsNoir.net: http://filmsnoir.net/film_noir/the-big-gamble-1931-the-coolest-car-chase-you-have-never-seen.html
John Greco has posted a fantastic interview with author Patrick McGilligan at Twenty Four Frames: http://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/interview-with-author-patrick-mcgilligan/
Meanwhile, John’s beautiful new ‘photography’ website is up and running:
http://johngrecophotography.com/
Jon Warner has written a stupendous review of Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” at Films Worth Watching: http://filmsworthwatching.blogspot.com/2011/08/tree-of-life-2011-directed-by-terrence.html
Laurie Buchanan’s latest post honors the wonderful Terrill Welch at Speaking From The Heart: http://holessence.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/whats-black-and-white-and-red-all-over/
Terrill Welch’s latest ravishing post at the Creativepotager’s blog, “Good Morning En Plein Air” showcases a magnificent outdoor work in progress counter some bleak finantial news: http://creativepotager.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/good-morning-en-plein-air/#wpl-likebox
Jaime Grijalba has penned an excellent essay on Richard Kelly’s “Southland Tales” at Exodus 8:2: http://exodus8-2.blogspot.com/2011/08/southland-tales-2006.html
In Tokyo, ‘Murderous Ink” has penned a tremendous, fascinating essay on Setsuko Hara, and her “Nobiko Rides a Cloud” by Fumindo Kurata at Vermillion and One Nights: http://vermillionandonenights.blogspot.com/2011/08/nobuko-rides-on-cloud.html
Roderick Heath has authored an extraordinary review of “Flash Gordon” at Ferdy-on-Films: http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/?p=10822
Troy Olson may well have written his magnum opus at Elusive as Robert Denby with a spectacular essay on Robert Bresson’s Le Journal
Une Cure de Campagne (“Diary of a Country Priest”): http://troyolson.blogspot.com/2011/07/robert-bresson-journal-d-cure-de.html
At Movie Classics Judy Geater has a brand new essay up on
Frank Capra’s pre-coder “The Miracle Woman” with Barbara Stanwyck, and it’s another winner: movieclassics.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/the-miracle-woman-frank-capra-1931/
Shubhajit has penned an excellent capsule review of Todd Haynes’s “Mildred Pierce” at Cinemascope: http://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2011/08/mildred-pierce2011.html
Samuel Wilson has written another superb essay, this time on Tadashi Imai’s 1964 “Revenge” at Mondo 70: http://mondo70.blogspot.com/2011/08/tadashi-imais-revenge-adauchi-1964.html
Filmmaker Jeffrey Goodman poses some fascinating collaborations with Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” and some other abstracts in art and music to establish some similarities in a wonderful new post at The Last Lullaby: http://cahierspositif.blogspot.com/2011/08/collaboration-id-like-to-see.html#comment-form
Just Another Film Buff has posted a fantastic interview with Hindi filmmaker Girish Kassaravalli at The Seventh Art. This is a remarkable achievement for the always scholarly and affable Srikath Scrivasson: http://theseventhart.info/2011/08/06/interview-girish-kasaravalli/
Stephen Russell-Gebbett has again pushed that creative button with his post “Cinema’s True Avengers” at Checking On My Sausages: http://checkingonmysausages.blogspot.com/2011/07/cinemas-true-avengers.html
At Doodad Kind of Town Pat has penned a terrific review on “Larry Crowne”: http://doodadkindoftown.blogspot.com/2011/07/larry-crowne.html
R. D. Finch has written a marvelous review on Ozu’s early “The Good Son” at The Movie Projector: http://themovieprojector.blogspot.com/2011/08/two-early-films-by-ozu-part-1.html
At Cinema Styles Greg Ferrara talks about juggling his act at his blogsite and at TCM Classic Movies, where he also pens movie reviews: http://cinemastyles.blogspot.com/2011/08/this-shit-just-aint-working.html
Ed Howard has made a sterling addition to his ‘Films That I Love’ series with a terrific essay on Joseph Losey’s ‘Mr. Klein’ at Only The Cinema: http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.com/2011/08/films-i-love-54-mr-klein-joseph-losey.html
Patricia talks about bicycle trips, birthdays and planned film festivals in her latest engaging post at Patricia’s Wisdom: http://patriciaswisdom.com/2011/08/after-34-years-my-husband-is-leaving-me/comment-page-1/#comment-22947
Peter Lenihan features actress Janet Gaynor in his lead post at The Long Voyage Home: http://thelongvoyagehome.blogspot.com/
Craig Kennedy’s new “Watercooler” post is heading up at Living in Cinema: http://livingincinema.com/2011/08/07/the-watercooler-payback-x-2/
At Petrified Fountain of Thought Stephen Morton has penned a stunning essay on Kelly Reichardt and “Meek’s Cutoff”: http://petrifiedfountainofthought.blogspot.com/2011/07/thoughts-on-kelly-reichardt-and-meeks.html
At The Man From Porlock Craig has penned a terrific review of The Tree of Life: http://themanfromporlock.blogspot.com/2011/08/where-god-lives-tree-of-life.html
Tony d’Ambra is the lead subject in Dee Dee’s post at Darkness Into Light on the poet and film noir expert’s
beautiful verse on the character Vera from Ulmer’s “Detour” which d’Ambra dedicates to Ann Savage: http://noirishcity.blogspot.com/2011/07/film-noir-expert-and-poet-tony.html
At SmiledYawned Nodded Longman Oz has most creatively sized up Jean-Luc Godard’s “Film Socialism”: http://smiledyawnednodded.com/2011/07/17/filmsocialisme/
At English-One-O-Worst, the jack of all trades Heath has penned a stupendous piece of literary criticism on Henry James’s “The Turn of
the Screw”: http://englishoneoworst.blogspot.com/2011/07/watching-screw-turn-henry-james.html
And at This Island Rod, Heath has brought back memories for many with his review of a low budget horror flick which stateside was known as
“The Crawling Eye”: http://thisislandrod.blogspot.com/2011/07/trollenberg-terror-1958.html
Kevin Olson’s newest post at Hugo Stiglitz Makes Movies is a terrific essay on the horror film “He Knows You’re Alone”: http://kolson-kevinsblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/summer-of-slash-he-knows-youre-alone.html
Sachin Gandhi at Scribbles and Ramblings has posted the “Copa America” results in book and film. It’s great stuff!: http://likhna.blogspot.com/2011/07/copa-america-2011-book-film-festival.html
David Schleicher has authored a most intriguing essay on “Captain America” at The Schleicher Spin: http://theschleicherspin.com/2011/07/28/captain-america-wants-you-to-get-excited-about-the-avengers/
And Jason Marshall at Movies Over Matter has also tackled Captain America with a superb new essay: http://moviesovermatter.com/2011/07/28/%e2%80%9ca-weak-man-knows-the-value-of-strength-the-value-of-power-%e2%80%9d-captain-america-the–first-avenger/
Hot coffee is one thing, but the “dog days” of summer offer up the kind of heat index that just about everybody would love to serve up an eviction notice on. Michael Harford says as much in art and words at the revered Coffee Messiah blogsite: http://coffeemessiah.blogspot.com/2011/07/dog-days.html
J.D. has penned a fantastic review on “Captain America” ar Radiator Heaven: http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2011/07/captain-america-first-avenger.html
At the hallowed halls of the Film Doctor’s place, the college film professor and bloggers says “Carzy, Stupid Love” is “mostly stupid”: http://filmdr.blogspot.com/2011/07/mostly-stupid-crazy-stupid-love.html
Dave Van Poppel has penned a magnificent review of Herzog’s new documentary “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” at Visions of Non-Viction: http://visionsofnonfiction.blogspot.com/2011/07/cave-of-forgotten-dreams.html
Adam Zanzie has penned an altogether magnificent review of “The Tree of Life” at Icebox Movies: http://iceboxmovies.blogspot.com/2011/07/tree-of-life-2011-stairways-to-heaven.html
Hokahey has written an engaging essay on “Cowboys and Aliens” at Little Worlds: http://hokahey-littleworlds.blogspot.com/2011/07/cowboys-aliens.html
Jason Bellamy has taken a fascinating look at Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” at The Cooler: http://coolercinema.blogspot.com/2011/07/looking-closer-at-rear-window.html
Slant writer extraordinaire Jon Lanthier likens A Serbian Film to a “transgressive” experience, awarding it 3 out of 4 stars at Aspiring Sellout: http://livingincinema.co
Paul J. Marasa considers Robert Zemekis’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit? in a stellar essay at TheConstant Viewer: http://theconstantviewer.blogspot.com/2011/06/june-26-1988-who-framed-roger-rabbit.html
Indian culture mavens take note! At Kaleem Hasan’s spectacularly popular home from Indian film, music and politics, the lead post, featuring a you tube of the song “Bduddah Hoga Terra Baap” has attracted almost 300 comments! But the site performed as well on many occasions. Congrats Kaleem!: http://satyamshot.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/bbuddah-hoga-terra-baap-trailers/
And Hasan himself has penned a superlative review of the Indian film Dum Maaro Dum: http://satyamshot.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/specters-of-dum-maaro-du
Jake Cole has penned a terrific review of Buster Keaton’s “Sherlock Jr.” at Not Just Movies that’s a must for all cineastes and Keaton
fans: http://armchairc.blogspot.com/2011/07/sherlock-jr-buster-keaton-1924.html
Jeopardy Girl candidly talks about turning “40″ at her place: http://jeopardygirl.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/big40/
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Writers/Founders
Sixteen films in the theater Sam! How do you do it? David hasn’t even been able to find a film that can get me set through more than half of it for weeks. I do like films but when it is nice out, I just have to be outside… sometimes painting as you mentioned in your link above. Thanks by the way.
One of the films I thought I might like but didn’t was a Criterion collection of IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES directed by Nagisa Oshima which was released in 1976 and is apparently still censored in Japan. For my tastes it had a raw pornographic edge to it and overall lack of sensuality that got in the way of some of its finer moments. I can appreciate that it might be an important film but I only made it half way through. So back to painting for me! 🙂
Take care Sam and all Wonders in the Dark beings… and remember to take time to just be.
Ah Terrill, if I lived on Mayne Island I dare say my obsession with films might me overwhelmed and thus overridden by the lure and intoxication that you experience and ravish in on a regular basis. Heck, I live on the fringes of NYC here, and your kind of life seems more like an unattainable dream. So what does one do when concrete, slyscapers, intense heat and PC screens are the only tangibles within reach? Aside from some brief vacations, we must achieve our private nirvanas indoors. Sometimes this is at the expense of living life at its fullest, I well know this and lament it. As far as the 16 films this week, as I’ve stated in the past, it’s an obsession for completism. But I really must say with three days left (including a triple feature of shorter films tonight) Lucille and I have had a ton of fun!
Allan is a huge fan of that Oshima film, but overall my opinion is closer to yours than his, though generally I love a number of the director’s other film exceedingly…i.e. Boy, The Ceremony, Death by Hanging…You hit the nail on the head there when you say it had ‘a pornographic edge to it.’ I like aspects of it, but also find some of it disconcerting. I felt the same way about Matsumura’s BLIND BEAST.
But painting…yes! Look forward to your next masterpiece my friend. Many thanks for being Johnny-on-the-spot here too!
Totally pissed that I couldn’t make KING KONG with you and the kids. Easily one of my 10 favorites of all time and a film I have seen almost annually since I was a boy (and a Blu-Ray I just sent off to help build Allan’s collection), I can only imagine its power when projevted onto a theatre screen. Surprised that you liked RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES with defensive respect you and I share for that original 1968 Charleton Heston classic. Ebert was only mildly positive towards it. But, since it continues a series that always fascinated me I might give it a try. PS: The 21st is a Sunday Sam, I think you meant the start up for the 22nd.
Well Dennis, RISE actually received generally excellent reviews (Ebert notwithstanding) so my reaction shouldn’t really raise eyebrows. That said I loved the earlier franchise as you rightly note and appreciate the imagination here in filling in the narrative holes.
I stand corrected on that date. it is indeed the 22nd for the musical countdown to launch with areview from you.
Many thanks my friend!
BREAKING BAD heat up a bit with its newest episode. Walter and Skyler scripted their explaination on where all the money is coming from to keep Hank from becoming suspicious. However, during dinner that night, Walter dicovers evidence that Hank might be on his trail closer than he ever suspected. Jesse, in the meantime, has finally stepped too far with his wreckless lifestyle and has finally given Gustavo no other choice in his actions. In the final moment of the show, Big Mike drives towards the desert quietly as Jesse sits beside him, realizing what will most likely be the culmination of his fate. Watching along for three seasons now, I’m consistantly amazed how creator/writer Vince Gilligan keeps the plot twisting without ever allowing the show to veer off into unbelievable territories. Always truthful (for good or bad) but tinted with elements of great suspense/thriller film-making techniques, its slowly but surely becoming that one current show that could compete for a slot as one of the 10 greatest ever.
Dennis: I hope at least one or two others stop in and comment on your seemingly brilliant analysis and sizing up of a show I have not seen and know nothing about. Great to see that level of enthusiasm as always!
Slowly but surely going through that massive shipment of CRITERION BLU-RAY titles I received from the 50% off sale from B+N… THE LAST EMPEROR by Bertolucci is a film I wasn’t originally crazy about when I saw it in its initial release back in 1987M. However, comfortable on my sofa, I popped it on to check the Blu-Ray transfer and found mydelf totally engaged by it. The first hour of the film is loving ode to lost innocence and the amazing use of primary colors workds as a stunning juxtapose for the drab grays and blacks that will define the lost humanity of the second half. Not enough is ever said for John Lones performance as Pu Yi. It is a subtle, quiet and masterful turn defining the confusion of a soul set loose in a world moving to fast for him to catch up with. Thia stunning CRITERION BLU RAY totally converted me and I really have nothing but praise for this movie…
Dennis:
I’ll never forget in 1987 when THE LAST EMPEROR swept the Oscars in a year that yielded Spielberg’s EMPIRE OF THE SUN, which I’ve always thought was my favorite title by the director. At that time I also had a more measured opinion of Bertlucci’s film, but since then I’m a convert and fully revel in the film’s pictorial beauties. What you say about the blu-ray of course is dead-on!
Kudos too for all those fabulous sale acquisitions my friend!
I don’t know.
I love the Spielberg film. However, THE LAST EMPEROR went on a far more spiritual and emotional journey for me. True, I only recently looked at the Bertolucci film and its freshness may have me temporarilty swayed, but I will take into account the impression this recent viewing left on me the next time I view EMPIRE OF THE SUN…
I can’t stand how Bertolucci and Storaro butcher the aspect-ratio in the Criterion releases. Sorry, but seeing a 2.35 movie in 2.2 is just bullshit. Coppola wised up and finally released Apocalypse Now in 2.35 the way it was meant to be seen, so there’s really no excuse.
On this point Bob, I agree with you 100% and could never understand this compromise!
Thanks a lot Sam. Whoa! 16 films!!! Your movie-viewing feat is analogous to Usain Bolt touching 9.6 seconds every week. By the way, since I’d watched the series Practice earlier and had loved it, I’ve got hold of its spin-off Boston Legal in order to watch it as well, though the latter, from what I’ve read & heard about it, was markedly different in terms of tone & treatment. And your views on Rise of the Planet of Apes has made me too interested in it, though I’d skipped it thinking it to be yet another mindless CGI extravaganza.
hahaha Shubhajit!
I like that simile! As you probably have noticed, RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES has received good to excellent reviews against all expectations. I’m a big fan of the earlier franchise, so I was thinking I’d be overcritical. With it’s own parameters I’d say this new film does the old series justice.
I can’t say I’m familiar with PRACTICE, but much appreciate the comparisons with BOSTON LEGAL.
Thanks as always my friend!
Sam,
The temperature around the country and your movie going continue at a torrid pace! I did not make it to the theater this week, partly due to the death a friend’s brother. Am looking to hopefully catch the new APES film but my wife already has the first three days of the week booked (lol). I did manage to catch five films at home this week.
The Bedroom Window (***1/2) Decent imitation Hitchcock brought down by a sad performance from Steve Guttenberg…Steve-O, you are no Cary Grant! You are not even Hugh Grant! Putting aside Guttenberg’s performance, Isabelle Huppert is a respectable stand in for Ingrid Bergman and the film has nice tension about it.
Premature Burial (***1/2) Floyd Crosby’s moody, fog bound cinematography and the art direction by Daniel Haller elevate this Roger Corman Poe adaptation a bit higher than it deserves. Of the opinion this was one of the weaker Poe films from RC.
Blackwell’s Island (**) Disappointing Warner Brothers film that seemed unable to make up its mind on whether to be a gangster film or a comedy. The plot is unbelievable, and Stanley Fields hoodlum smuck gets harder and harder to take as the film progresses. Thank God, it was only 75 minutes long.
Donavan’s Brain (***1/2) Lew Aryes is Dr. Kildare gone mad! A crazed scientist who experiments on keeping monkey’s brains alive after he kills them strikes gold when a millionaire named Donavan dies from injuries incurred in a plane crash and he removes the brain from the dead man and keeps it alive. The nutty doctor develops a way to transmit the brain’s thoughts into his mind. Slowly, Donavan’s brain begins to take over our heroes body as he begins to act, dress and walk like Donavan. The ending in lackluster but overall a fun film.
20,000 Years in Sing Sing (****) Terrific pre-code prison drama from Warner Brothers with the rare coupling of Spencer Tracy and Bette Davis, who btw looks fantastic. Powerful, filled with many nice visual touches. One could easily see James Cagney in the role of the pugnacious Tommy Connors instead of Tracy.
John: Sorry to hear about that passing and your own subsequent impasse as a result of it. Yes, on the end I am always questioning my own sanity, but it’s the old scenario where once you are in deep enough you feel you must finish the job! But I can’t deny it’s been a lot of fun.
In any case, I am thrilled that WitD readers will be treated to a brace of your exceptional essays during the musical countdown. But I wouldn’t dare tell them which ones! Ha!
Sounds like you had more than a respectable run at home, even while unable to get to the theatre. Your perceptive assessment of THE BEDROOM WINDOW is dead-on, though I’ll admit I like that Corman less. I think you are right to point out that it is “lesser” Corman, and one of the weaker entries in the Poe series. Interestingly enough, a justly praised THRILLER episode that actually featured Karloff in an acting role (one of four instances where he appeared in the cast) was far better, and more in the spirit of Poe’s original. DONOVAN’S BRAIN is indeed harmless fun, but I never was much of a fan, though it’s been a number of years since I saw it. You make excellent points though in your capsule.
I haven’t seen either BLACKWELL’S ISLAND nor SING SING, but much appreciate the great assessments.
Thanks as always my friend for the extraordinary wrap.
Your dedication to culture, Sam, makes the rest of us look like monkeys before the great leap forward! Bravo!
In what for me is a movie marathon, on Saturday I went out to see Monte Hellman’s Road to Nowhere (review to come), and watched Stage Door and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World at home. All three films were terrific and all very different. I took in The Unfaithful, whose preachy script didn’t do Ann Sheridan’s performance justice; as usual, Eve Arden got away with all the best lines. Took in another Basil Dearden, Sapphire, which was an interesting race-relations film.
The future is worth looking forward to this week, with NOIR CITY 3 coming to Chicago this weekend with a terrific line-up and my buddy Alan Rode as the master of ceremonies; the musicals countdown; and a trip to Paris in October to see my cousin and make my pilgrimage to the Cinematheque Francaise.
Marilyn–
We all have our moments for sure, and this summer with the Keaton and pre-codes, it’s admittedly been an insane commitment. But I remember what you’ve done at venues like the Chicago International Film Festival (to name but one) that stand alone! I know you also diversity your weekends with various types of cultural immersion (for me as of late it seems to be just film, which isn’t the way I really want it) and your report for this past weekend confirms this. I am a huge fan of STAGE DOOR, but have never connected with SCOTT PILGRIM, and have engaged in discussions at other sites, voicing my issues. But I know I am a minority voice. I look forward of course to your upcoming review of ROAD TO NOWHERE. I actually agree with your assessment there of THE UNFAITHFUL, but haven’t yet seen that Basil Dearden film, SAPPHIRE. I know that’s in the Eclipse set.
A trip to Paris and the Cinemateque in Paris?? Now that is something incredible. I could only dream of doing that! I look forward that report from you in late October. And yes, the NOIR CITY 3 sounds great, as does of course the upcoming musical countdown here. Sounds like things are heating up my friend!
Many thanks as always!
Thanks Sam.
Extreme heat makes me feel ill apart from hot. Thankfully here in the UK it’s far rarer than where you are.
I was never a fan of the original Planet of the Apes films but the trailer for this one made it look interesting. This week I saw THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL (***) and the Polish film CROWS (***1/2) which features on Allan’s Top 3000 list. I’ve taken note of a group of films I don’t know or that seem most appealing from the list and am tracking them down.
Indeed Stephen. Sometimes I get reports of extreme heat by you, but it is indeed very rare. I much prefer the temperature conditions by you. While we suffer through summers way hotter than what occurs in the UK, we also get the extreme cold in the winter, and more snow.
I’d say that 3 1/2 or 4 is about right for CROWS and you’re dead on in my book with THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL. Good hunting there!
Thanks as always my very good friend!
Sam, thanks so much for the wonderful mention.
Your pace continues to be absolutely astounding, and I really look forward to hearing more details about these pre-code gems.
This week was much slower for me (no films, in fact). I actually traveled most of the week to Mobile, Alabama where I was the captain of a men’s tennis team. We had a great time, extraordinarily hot, but one of these special times of bonding that I will never forget.
Here’s to another excellent week, Sam. Thanks so much for all that you do!
Jeffrey–
I really do need to size up the Pre-Code Festival before the musical countdown consumes most of my available time. When this coming Thursday expires I will have seen all 50 of the 50 films offered. That accomplishment deserves a full post, I know. I dropped the ball with the Ozu Festival (and a few others) but in time alone this one needs to be addressed.
Well, you certainly deserved a break, as your own pace over the past months has been staggering. The tennis and the bonding sounds like just the formula to give you that much-needed change of pace. And I bet you are quite the tennis player! Enjoy the rest of your vacation my friend (if you are still in Mobile) and have a great week! Many thanks for the very kind words as always!
Sam,
I know you’re totally busy and loaded down with musical mayhem, but thanks as always for the kind mention. Our Hospitality is my personal favorite Keaton. Such beautiful stunts and choreography of images. I love it. I was hot and heavy on musicals this week, taking in The Pirate, Gold Diggers of 1933, The Love Parade and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I must say that Gold Diggers seems well worthy of a top 30 placement on the list I would assume. Love Busby Berkley’s numbers, even though the plot gets a bit stale in the middle section when the music stops for awhile. I still prefer 42nd Street from this era but Gold Diggers is pretty good itself. I think I was most impressed with Rocky Horror and was surprised at how good the film is and the songs are just non-stop fun. I really think it’s an essential musical and not like anything else. I’m hoping to see a high placement for this one.
I also took in Robert Wise’s The Set-Up which is a brilliant noir and one of the best sports/boxing movies ever made. It’s a masterpiece.
This week my wife, kids and I are going on vacation to the beaches of Michigan for some relaxation. Have a great one as always!
Jon:
THE SET UP will be screened this coming Friday as part of a double feature with CRISS CROSS launching the Robert Ryan Film Festival at the Film Forum. While I won’t be able to remotely give that Festival the kind of attention that I have with the pre-codes, I do plan on making a few appearances, including that first night. So much for immediate rest after Thursday’s final pre-coder double feature! Ha! I agree that THE SET UP is a masterpiece and one of the greatest sports-themed films. It certainly contends as Robert Wise’s greatest film too.
You have a valid point there about GOLD DIGGERS, though I agree on balance it’s really one of the greatest of musicals. I may prefer it narrowly over 42nd STREET, though either one can be argued. OUR HOSPITALITY is really one of greatest films of all-time in any genre. Monday’s screening provided for an unforgettable experience. My kids liked it quite a bit, in fact at least as much as SEVEN CHANCES, which they adored. Love the running gag of the guys pulling their guns out every time Buster readied to leave teh house!
I wish you and your family a wonderful time in Michigan! I must and will get over to comment on your TREE OF LIFE review ASAP!
Thanks as always my friend!
Sam,
Thanks again for the link. And your pre-coder spree is simply amazing but makes me grind my teeth, “I wish I could see half of them….”. These films are Hollywood polish in making and I couldn’t get enough of them.
This week, I saw “Saiko Shukun Fujin (1959)” by Yasuzo Masumura. It’s fun, fast-paced and hilarious. Nothing special, but well-directed screwball. I will write review on some Kon Ichikawa and Masumura films in a week or two.
MI
MI: I guess the biggest asset of the Pre-Code Festival has been the daily “discipline” to get up and go out, so to speak. At home I know I become complacent and get distracted (even while watching on the basement plasma) but in the theatre there is nothing but attentiveness. I must say after Thursday I’ll miss this festival. But it has definitely opened my pre-code horizons. I have not yet seen “Saiko Shukun Fujin” but have seen other Masumura’s and have the highest regard for “Red Angel” and “Blind Beast.” There are some Masumuras that haven’t yet come out on DVD over here, but I would imagine it’s only a matter of time. Your plans to write about more Masumura and the great Kon Ichikawa are very exciting.
I also want to comment under your SEVEN SAMURAI essay and will do so ASAP.
Many thanks as always my very good friend!
Sam – You’re like a CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF with all the fancy footwork involved in tucking 16 more films under your belt in one week!
I was very interested to read your take on RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES because I appreciate James Franco’s work and my son said, “Mom, you HAVE to see it!” Now I’ll go.
I’m glad your weather’s cooling off a wee bit. Ours is too, by an appreciable tad.
Thank you for pointing to Speaking from the Heart. Have yourself one heckofa week! Ah, but I’m preaching to the choir — I know you will!
hahaha Laurie, love that comparison!!! And would mind enother viewing of that film either! Or a stage production in fact! As far as footwork, I do wish I could get a bit more these days as far as the exercise end of it. Driving into Manhattan, parking around the corner from the Film Forum, and sitting inside for three hours at least is certainly not the way to get my blood flowing. This is why I badly need to compensate over the rest of the month. As I say, sitting in the car is another part of the equation. But of course, the spirit of what you are saying is really the whole point, and I thank you exceedingly.
Your son is right on with the new PLANET OF THE APES film, and I do hope you get a chance to see it.
I am plesantly suprised that the weather has been much more cooperative as of late, and look forward to (hopefully anyway) a tolerable second half of August. Thanks as always my excellent friend. I wish you and Len a great week!
Sam –
Good morning! I’m greatly envious of your opportunity to see so many wonderful pre-code films on the big screen. (Hopefully some version of this festival will make it to Chicago.) Your prolific viewing once again leave me in awe.
We didn’t see too much this weekend, which was OK – it was a nice time to visit family, go swiiming, wander through farmer’s markets. We had every intention of making it to RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES on Saturday night but ran out of energy. (we could take some lessons from you!) On the small screen, I finally caught I LOVE YOU PHILIP MORRIS, which I greatly enjoyed, and, via OnDemand, L’AMOUR FOU. This documentary on Yves St Laurent, as related by his longtime partner and set against the backdrop of the sale of his voluminous art collection, was diverting but not terribly compelling viewing. Pierre Berge is so discreet and reserved in relating St Laurent’s struggles with his personal demons that’s we don’t really get to the heart of his genius, let alone the dynamics of his relationship with Berge. Fun to see his landmark fashion creations and impressive collection of art though.
Great to see someone has written on “I Love You Phillip Morris.” This film shows how excellent Carrey can be when divorced from generic Hollywood filmmaking. The sweet tone really resonates.
Pat—
I do hope that a pre-code venue materializes in the Windy City at some point. This is one kind of venue that will always be especially beneficial, since a number of the films still haven’t seen the light of day on legitimate DVD. This can’t be said for the content of most of the other festivals. But apart from that it would be hard to counter that the 1930-1934 USA period is the greatest in film history from any country. Thanks as always for the compliments on the activities on this end. I know I really need to settle down though after this festival, ebven with that planned appearance at opening night of the Robert Ryan Festival. I believe you may like the new PLANET OF THE APES film when you do get to it. I’d be curious to hear your opinion. Agree with you (and Peter M.) on I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS. I haven’t seen the St. Laurant film but fully understand and appreciated what you are saying here, even with the better qualities you eloquently relate.
Thanks as always my very good friend! Have a great week!
Thanks for the mention Sam! I managed to see a couple films this weekend. Teen Wolf last night for fun with the roommates, and El Bulli: Cooking in Progress, which I shall review for the site. I have a review posted for Billy the Kid right now. Not sure if you’ve ever seen it, but it’s worth a look!
Dave: I have watched that EL BULLI trailer about 50 times over the past three weeks at the Film Forum, where it is now enjoying a most successful run. For some reason I dread seeing the film. But it sounds like you may be impressed! I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled my friend! Thanks as always!
Supposedly El Bulli has received some pretty terrible reviews here in Toronto, so be cautious! Looking back, I can see why, although altogether I wasn’t too too disappointed.
Sam, your calendar of pre-code viewing reminds me of the palmy days when TNT was Turner’s old-movie channel and every day promised an amazing discovery. I remember seeing a lot of those Film Forum titles back then without really appreciating what “pre-code” was all about.I just thought they were old in a cool way. Would that TCM showed them more often — and speaking of that channel, does anyone agree with me that “Summer Under the Stars” is mostly a waste of time? I say mostly because every so often you get a suprise like the Ann Dvorak day tomorrow, but those are the rule-proving exceptions. I was thinking of taking in Rise of the Apes this weekend but got distracted by a Borders closing sale. Unfortunately, this store got rid of most of its DVD inventory a long time ago, and it’s sad to see the chain that really started my DVD library pass into history.
Along with Adauchi I managed to take in Raoul Walsh’s Pursued, a promising gothic western that cops out with a happy ending; the Burt Lancaster vehicle Valdez is Coming, which has a different kind of cop-out finish in which an unlikely honor code prevails, as well as a lifeless performance (including latino accent) from the star; Don Siegel’s Flaming Star, a revelation of a movie with genuine tragedy and inconceivable grimness for an Elvis Presley project;Tony Gatliff’s Korkoro, an interesting if melodramatic take on Vichy France from a Roma viewpoint; Rene Clement’s Purple Noon, a variation on The Talented Mr. Ripley that’s somehow both more exotic and more authentically lived-in than the Minghella version, yet not necessarily superior; and Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice, a work of oracular narcissism that could well have taken place entirely in its main character’s head but is distinguished by a godlike (or maybe just Jansco-like) direction of people, landscape and fire. It reminds me of Tree of Life in its take-it-or-leave-it quality; you either embrace the universality of the protagonist’s situation or you ask why we should care about this guy. But it exhibits enough pictorial mastery to redeem it for true film buffs. That’s enough for one weekend, I think.
Samuel–
It’s funny you mention Ann Dvorak (by her own assertion it’s promounced VOR-ZHAK) since she’s been a star in several of the last few pre-coders I’ve watched including last evenings HEAT LIGHTENING (Le Roy). He has a seductive voice and she can be quite alluring in every sense. She was surely the star of THREE ON A MATCH, even out-acting Bette Davis, and of course her signature role remains the one she gave as Muni’s sister in Hawks’s SCARFACE. I am not really involved with TCM, so I can’t say much about “Summer Under the Stars” but would hope someone else chimes in. Butg what you say is no surprise that’s for sure.
I join you in mouring the passing of Border’s!!! I can’t even say how many hours I’ve spent at stores in that chain for many years of my life. It was inevitable when you consider what Amazon and other online outlets have done to stores, but it signals the demise of an era we cherished. I didn’t realize that the DVD inventory has already been depleted, but it makes sense when you consider they’ve been closing for a while. Now all we have left is Barnes & Noble, and they are on shaky ground. Hope you get to see RISE over teh coming week.
Beautiful thematic discussion of Tarkovsky’s THE SACRIFICE, which is my favorite of the films you recently watched (the blu-ray is a must-acquisition) and of PURPLE MOON, which I’ve always had mixed feelings about. (but appreciate the broaching of THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY). FLAMIONG STAR, PURSUED and VALDEZ IS COMING are all interesting films for various reasons.
Thanks as always my friend for the sensational wrap!
The local Borders wiped out most of its DVD inventory at least two years ago. It was the second one in the Albany area, the first having gone under not long after a bigger Barnes & Noble moved in nearby. I’ve always felt that Borders never recovered from the first year of its Rewards program, when you earned $5 of credit for every $50 spent. The result was that people bought hundreds of dollars worth of stuff that holiday season for practically nothing. Online competition only provided a coup de grace. As it happened, this Borders still had a minimal selection of new releases and bargains, and I ended up buying a couple of Mill Creek box sets I was missing. B&N’s DVD selection has gotten a little better over time, but the local store has never exceeded Border’s in the good old days — except for Criterions, of course.
Would have loved to see King Kong and Tarzan. I think the pre-code festival is that rare opportunity that will allow you to see movies that can’t be found on DVD. But I have seen many on TCM, something I know you don’t usually avail yourself of.
Bobby, as you know I rarely watch television stations anymore. Like so many others I’m spoiled by DVDs.
Since I’m a James Francophile I’ll have to see ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ ASAP.
Dog days. The stench from the local multiplex is overpowering right now — ‘The Hang Up,’ ‘The Smurfs.’ I’m surprised Ben Stiller hasn’t taken another dump on celluloid and released it to box-office records.
Picked up an inexpensive, used copy of Von Trotta’s ‘Rosenstrasse,’ poorly reviewed but I can’t wait to see it. With the exception of Rosenbaum, Ehrenstein and Richard Brody (and Allan Fish), I just don’t trust film critics anymore.
Here’s a much-loved oldie I’ve just gotten around to seeing — 44 years late!
Roger Ebert once called ‘Elvira Madigan’ the most beautiful film ever made. Hyperbole aside, Bo Widerberg’s 1967 film is often lovely, a montage of impressionistic images that recall Monet, Renoir, Degas and other masters of the 19th century school of al fresco painting. Maybe the only thing lacking here is a gilded frame to complete some of these stunning pastoral scenes.
But soon after the film is underway an apprehension begins to seep in, a foreboding that all this visual and aural splendor is the mounting andante to some poignant denouement. The dramatic raison goes something like this — drench your story in a soft, green-gold patina, a summer languor, add the world’s most sublime music (Mozart and Vivaldi here), present an irresistible idyllic atmosphere, and then have something awful happen.
‘Elvira Madigan’ is based on a true incident that has attained legendary romantic status in Sweden and Denmark. In 1889 (the year of the Mayerling affair — ‘Elvira Madigan’ is almost a commoner’s parodic aping of that royal scandal) Sixten Sparre, a Swedish army deserter runs off with an internationally beloved circus performer, a tightrope walker, a girl who went by the name of Elvira (her real name was Hedvig Jensen and she was Danish-German). Elvira and Sixten, cut off from their families (Sixten abandoned his wife and two children), practically penniless with Sparre subject to arrest and unable to get a job, disappear into the fields and forests of the Danish countryside, laughing, lolling and making love in an almost childlike abdication of responsibilty. In fact, the film’s distillation of intense feeling, of abandonment to passion, the sense of time caught in a bell jar, the brevity of happiness, is its best achievement. Here Widerberg gives us dozens of ravishing close-ups of the lovers’ faces a la Bergman (Jorgen Persson is the cinematographer and he’s every bit as gifted as the munificently gifted Nykvist). And yet. Misgiving soon sets in. One’s eyes begin to glaze over from all these visual riches. Pia Degermark (Elvira) is too exquisite, Thommy Berggren (Sixten) is too dashing, the use of Mozart (piano concerto 21) excessive. Even the foreshadowing of death with the red wine spilled on a white tablecloth is overly pretty.
Furthermore, the pair’s dawning realization of impending doom is a rather long time in coming, which is why, in the end, ‘Elvira Madigan’ is a muted tragedy lacking large classical dimension. The film isn’t Shakespearean because Sixten and Elvira are a pair of mooncalves woolgathering their way toward self-destruction (Sixten says he’s been feminized by Elvira), naively (some many say stupidly) oblivious to the consequences of their inaction until it is too late. The suicide pact has been telegraphed from early on.
Pia Degermark won the best actress prize at Cannes in 1967, but the film’s best performance comes from Berggren, who gives us a man embarrassed by his betrayals, helplessly in love, both clownish and grave, trapped and angry, easily softened by his beloved Elvira. A superb performance.
In ‘About Schmidt,’ which I watched again last night, Jack Nicholson, perhaps America’s best actor since Brando, is superb, too.
It’s a performance totally devoid of vanity (this is a Nicholson trademark — recall his swag belly in the bedroom scene with MacLaine in ‘Terms of Endearment’). Here he looks worn, ancient, much older than his 60-odd years. It’s the kind of pitiless self-exposure he shares with Gerard Depardieu, another great actor.
Aye, Mark. Franco fans should indeed converge on this new film. He’s quite affecting I must say.
I was no fan of ROSENSTRASSE, but the sublject is always a fascinating one and worth exploring. I love the analogy of the dog days, bringing to mind (or nose) the stench emanating from the local multiplex this time of year! Shhhh! We don’t want Stiller in our midst! Ha! I’m sure Allan will appreciate that toasting there! Among critics, Mark, I will always speaking highly of Stanley Kauffmann, David Thomson, Manola Dargis and Stephanie Zahareck among current writers. (and the Dean of film critics Kauffmann is 96 years old!) I first saw Wiederberg’s “Elvira Madigan” back in my college days in an undergraduate film class. That first “impressionable” year in 1974 introduced me to two of the most ravishingly beautiful films I’ve ever seen: the Wiederberg and Albert Lamorisee’s “The Red Balloon.” On a darker note that year also gave me my first exposure to Resnais’s “Nuit et Bruiliard.” But I love what you say in framing “Elvira Madigan” with the impressionistic images and those painting icons. I know the use of the Mozart (Piano Concerto No. 21, made even more famous with it’s use in this film). But you stependous analysis is especially telling what you say here:
“In fact, the film’s distillation of intense feeling, of abandonment to passion, the sense of time caught in a bell jar, the brevity of happiness, is its best achievement.”
Mark, in Lee R. Bobker’s seminal volume “Elements of Film,” 3rd Edition (since revised several times) which was the core text in that cinema class I took at Bergen Community College, “Elvira Madigan’s” magnificent still frames were used in the chapter on cinematography as a textbook definition of color camerwork. Your own meticulous discussion here embellishes any discussion of the film’s visuals, especially your broaching of Bergman and Nykvist, which this film bears obvious and inevitable comparision with for a host of reasons. I was always impressed with BOTH Berggren and Degermark, but I can’t contest your brilliant framing.
I’m not the Nicholson fan you are (he is after all often playing himself) but I like “About Schmidt” and the actor’s elegiac work in it. But I will ponder your subtle question of the best American actor since Brando. “About Schmidt” does work very well on repeat viewing.
You have brightened this thread up immeasurably with your brilliant comment my friend!! Many thanks as always!!!
Sam, have you ever seen another film with Jean Harlowe called “Bombshell?” I see it wasn’t offered in the festival.
I hope you and Lucille enjoy your abbreviated summer break.
Fred– I know Red Dust was screened, as Sam notes in his roundup, but not Bombshell. It’s possible they were able to locate a decent print, or perhaps there were “rights” issues.
Fred, Frank is right, it may have something to do with rights. I thought RED DUST was a near-masterpiece, but have yet to watch BOMBSHELL. I know Allan is sending on a copy.
Well, the break isn’t all that long, but I will surely enjoy it. I do have much writing to engage in, connected to the musical countdown.
Another week of incomparable stamina. To do what you do, you must literally put everything aside and focus on this one venture. Everything you plan must revolve around the films. But I’ve always argued that if you are going to do something you have to do it right. I hope you are figuring on a long rest after it ends later this week.
Yes Frank, I really must literally put everything aside when I get this insane festival bug. My 81 year-old father thinks I’m crazy when I embark on these ventures, and I always think he’s probably right. Yes, I do strive for ‘completism,’ which accounts for this dysfunctional activity. But heck, look at John Greco, Jaime Grijalba, and of course Allan. They are easily qual partners in crime. Ha!
Many thanks my friend for the usual insights!
Thanks everyone as always for the wonderful submissions!
Unfortunately I was unable to get over here today, as I had meetings with my school superintendent.
I told him that I needed several more “free periods” in September to free up time for me to work on the musical countdown!
Ha!!! Fat chance!!!
Well I did have two meetings, and couldn’t get over here, but will have everything responded to by early tomorrow afternoon. I am leaving the house very soon with Lucille and three of the kids to attend the final night of the Keaton festival.
I saw the new Planet of the Apes movie Saturday night. I really liked the idea, but I was wondering if everybody caught the sequence during the credits. If not I think the movie makes no sense as far as the events coming before all the other films. James Franco continues to impress. I think we have a new series on the horizon after reading the box office receipts.
You know something Louie, I missed that sequence!!! Damn!!! I left the theatre during the credits, thinking that everything had concluded, and I needed to go to the bathroom badly. My son Sammy actually told me about it when he emerged. Ah well, I’ll see it again at some point.
I agree that a “series” is imminent!
Thanks for stopping by my friend!
Hello Sam and everyone! It has been a hard day for me, been out on my internship at the channel, and last week it was my first week of study in a full month of vacations (always too short to be real). Thanks once again for featuring of my Richard Kelly Month pieces, it has been rough to keep up with a daily post (monday through friday), and I hope that when the blogathon comes around (I’ll post a reminder here on wednesday… if you let me) it will be on full force and have some great responses and contributions (And for those reading this, I want your contributions for the Richard Kelly Blogathon!)
So, 16 movies Sam, now I know it’s summer around there, those schedules are madness! Of the movies you’ve seen, obviously, “Our Hospitality” sounds like a masterpiece and a classic, I need to see that! Of those crazy Pre-Codes, I’ve seen “King Kong”, of course, but I was mostly underwhelmed by it, awarding it only ****, being considered a masterpiece by many people whose opinion I respect a lot, like yours, but I can’t quite get why I didn’t think much of it. Of the rest, I want to see “Red Dust”, “Tarzan and his Mate” and “Trouble in Paradise”. On the new Apes film, the jury is still out, I don’t know if I want to see it now… maybe later?
About my week, well, on monday we finished the recreation we had to film that was left from the week before (due to rain and other things), while Tuesday was my first day of classes, in which I had first a Law asignature that’s obligation (and which I already hate), and then the Fiction Workshop, in which the final work will be a short fiction film (10-15 minutes). On wednesday I took some lunch with my girlfriend and then went to my Script Class, in which the goal is to make a 15-20 minute short film script. Thursday I had “New Tendencies”, which is a class (seminary) that will take care of experimental film and out of boundaries stuff, new stuff, I liked it, and we saw a bunch of early films! On Friday I had a class called “Cinema Aesthethics”, in which we take a theorical approach to the aesthethic aspects of film… and so was this week! In Saturday I celebrated my dad’s birthday and went later to eat Korean Food with some friends. Good Times!
My week, movie wise:
– All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (2011, Adam Curtis) ****1/2 Strange and eclectic documentary miniseries for the BBC that takes its theories away from any known thing, regarding us as thinking machines or robots, featuring Ayn Rand, nature as a lie, and finally the relation between african riots and PlayStations. It was interesting and you just want more and more and more of it.
– The Box (2009, Richard Kelly) ***** I rewatched this film for today’s entry on my blog. The latest Kelly movie is his most beautiful, and one filled with good acting, great cinematography, great score and just magnificent and puzzling in its plot, just made for us to think about it and see what it’s all about. Just fantastic!
– Cowboys & Aliens (2011, Jon Favreau) *** Great special effects, some decent acting, but a preposterous plot, uninteresting as it advances (it gets more and more predictable as time goes by). Jon Favreau isn’t exactly a great director… maybe he’s not even a good one, but he sometimes knows how to make good entertainment… this time I felt bored.
– Demolition of a Wall (1896, Louis Lumiére) **** Short and influential, the deconstruction of a wall as the first act of “violence” on film.
– Davey Jones Locker (1900) **** One of the first examples of superimposition of two images, this one getting a bit eerie in its realization. Well done.
– Demolishing and Building Up the Star Theatre (1901, Frederick S. Armitage) **** Experimental early short, looking at examples of film reversal and acceleration. Quite stunning to have such a well done effect and such a detail in the construction of the place/building.
– The Conjuring of a Woman at the House of Robert Houdin (1896, Georges Mélies) *** One of the first and early experiment of Mélies, and you can tell, as the dissapearence of the lady is quite faulty. Some other Mélies effects are better.
– The Ghost Train (1901) *** An experiment on negatives. Could’ve been better if you’re going to call it “GHOST” Train.
– Gus Visser and His Singing Duck (1925, Theodore Case, Earl I. Sponable) *** One of the early experiments on sound. The song is funny… but what the hell is that guy doing to that duck????
– The India Rubber Head (1901, Georges Mélies) **** Great and funny! One of the most interesting to be explained of the early Mélies shorts. Full of inventive and crazy science, the short manages to make you awe and shiver in excitement.
– Horrible Bosses (2011, Seth Gordon) ***1/2 Filled with great acting and some really great jokes, the movie fails in some points because it stops dead on its tracks in some segments, and in other parts, the decissions made are way too dumb to be believable, specially if they have the jobs they have, they are too dumb to be in those spots, so they deserve to have those bosses.
– The Kiss (1896, William Heise) *** One of the first banned films in the history of cinema. Besides that, it’s not really that interesting.
– Midnight in Paris (2011, Woody Allen) **** Charming film from the Woodman (now I can say I’ve seen them all… for now), I liked the fantasy elements and the acting, but the film just goes there and fails to go beyond the anecdote of seeing these fantastic historical/artistic figures. But I liked it anyway!
– Westinghouse Works (1904) ***1/2 One of the first moving shots, as always centered on the machinery.
– Whistle (2002, Duncan Jones) **** Short film from the director of “Moon” and “Source Code”, with elements of science fiction, the short film manages to win quite a few points with some scenes and diverting away from over explaining some of the mechanisms of the machinery. But then it feels repetitive.
Have a good week SAM!
Jamie–
Of course we will post that blogothon. Just keep me abreast. Yes OUR HOSPITALITY is one of the film masterpieces, and seeing it last Monday was one of the summer highlights for all of us. I understand why you might not be completely smitten with KING KONG, as it’s special effects, though legenday, have lost their edge over the decades. But some have always complained teh film has some serious talky dull spots. The others that you want to see are indeed essentials films. I’ve always loved TROUBLE IN PARADISE, and this past viewing really enhanced those sentiments.
I loved reading about your incredible and tireless week– “Fiction workshop,” “script class,” “New Tendencies,” “Cinema Aesthetic,” etc., and am particularly intrigued by the latter! It’s amazing the kind of activity you put into a week, which just about puts us all to shame! And then it was great to get some time in with your girlfriend and celebrate your Dad’s birthday! Nice.
But if all that wasn’t enough you have officially won the MONDAY MORNING DIARY prize for that unforgettable performance watching movies!!! Incredible, fascinating round-up!
Well, I think you are fair enough with MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, which is overall solid enough, but far from great. My own opinion of THE BOX has risen ((Lucille really loves that film!) and it’s exciting to see that top rank rating!
I have seen all the Melias’s and couldn’t agree with you more on INDIAN RUBBER HEAD especially. I am staying away from COWBOYS AND ALIENS (ha!) but must say I am most intrigued by your appraisal of that BBC documentary. IO haven’t seen that duncan Jones short yet.
But what a festive report in every sense, and thanks a ton my excellent friend. As I say keep us abreast of what’s going on with the blogothon!
I could go on for hours about King Kong but life is too short. The original is of course what is referred to in some circles as a landmark film which of course it is.
To quote Sherlock “Robert Downey Junior” Holmes: “We now have a firm grasp of the obvious.”
I like the stop motion photography and the fight with the T Rex is as awesome a sequence in sci fi fantasy as any I can think of at the moment. Fay Wray is, along with Helen Chandler, my favorite early thirties actress and she had gorgeous legs.
I wouldn’t dare criticize King Kong (1933) but I would like to say that it isn’t necessarily my favorite version…artistically it’s almost flawless…some lame acting on the part of Bruce Cabot almost notwithstanding. But politically and philosophically I feel I would have to choose the 1976 version as the one I would want to push. There is a wonderful, funny, tragical script by Lorenzo Semple who wrote most of the Batman episodes on ABC (some credentials ey?), there is an environmental message which is always a good thing, there is Jeff Bridges at about 28 or 29 years of age as the hero, and there is the magnificent Jessica Lange with whom all us heterosexual guys fell in love at first sight.
Look: they make the story of some exploitative dick head (Robert Armstrong in ’33, and Charles Grodin in ’76) who wants to fuck with Kong…to emasculate him and make a buffoon out of him which sucks, but in the original version Kong is basically a rapist so when he gets slapped down there isn’t much pity. My honey bunny Fay Wray screams hysterically whenever the big guy puts the moves on her whereas in the ’76 version Jessica Lange falls for the ape who is much more romantic than his 1933 counterpart, and comes off as more of a Great Spirit than a gigantic horny, hairy girl stealer.
The 1976 King Kong is a kinder, gentler dinosaur mangler.
Who can deny that the end sequence of the bi-planes strafing Kong on the top of the Empire State Building in the original was supposed to make viewers happy that Fay would be ultimately rescued by some macho assholes gunning down the metaphorical symbol of human savagery?
Just watch the Jessica Lange version…the last five minutes will have you in tears.
I probably clenched my fist and yelled “YES!” when Kong killed the scumbags with the flame throwers on the World Trade Center and I probably felt my heart sink when the armed choppers came into view…like Jeff Bridges I said “Oh no…”
Peter Jackson’s version is hardly worth mentioning as he tried to take the best qualities from both previous versions and put them together in a computer animation extravaganza. Naomi Watts did an admirable but ultimately futile retake of Lange’s character in that she felt sympathy and awe and love for Kong but Jack Black should have had a restraining order put out against him to stay at least five hundred feet away from any motion picture camera. The man is a bad bad joke.
Johnny Weismuller and Maureen O’Sullivan had great bodies and in a perfect world they would have copulated on screen as Man and Woman, as Adam and Eve, as Tarzan and Jane and it would have been glorious
Andrei, I really would love to meet you some day. You are a singular character. You always brighten up a dreary day. I must say though: I never cared much for the Lange version.
Once again thank you for the nice mention – we are very busy with prep and packing for that bike trip here. I did see The Last Mimsy to squeeze in some time with my foot up (plantar fasciitis) and between two 14 hour days of driving to weddings…those are most certainly a kind of play/theater production so I am counting 2 more entertainments to my list.
I have 9 Meryl Streep movies set for my private film festival but that will not start for another week.
I am picking pounds of blueberries in the yard….freezing broccoli and beans and even though it is cool here I am still watering the garden – though I think the pansies are convinced it is fall.
16 movies….I do not think I could to that, I have read 5 books in 7 days once…
I am a bit like Terrill, when the weather is nice here, I just have to be outside rather like having a snow day here in winter 🙂
Thanks for all your good sharing
Thank very much Patricia!!!
Blueberries are very much in season, and this is the time to buy since prices drop. And freezing broccoli for the fall is a wise decision. The 9 film Meryl Streep Festival sounds great! I hope you included her recent DOUBT, and maybe even MAMMA MIA! as a guilty pleasure. As I stated to others here I strove from the start to see all the offerings in the festival, and simply stayed teh course. But it’s insanity, no doubt about it. When the weather is nice it is actually sinful to stay indoors!!! Ha! But I need to practice what I preach!
Best wishes on the bike trip my friend! Hope to read more at PATRICIA’S WISDOM!!!
I am at a loss for words every week Sam. Your perseverance astounds me. Even if you had lived across the Film Forum, your total time spent in a cinema would be remarkable but considering how much time you spend getting to & back from NY makes your achievement even more impressive. I look forward to reading what you will think of El Bulli.
Thanks for the contuined mention and I really hope you get a nice break after Aug 11 🙂
Sachin:
I can only say that my performance during this pre-code festival is confirmation of my obsessive nature. All I had to do was start off with three of fours days in succession, and they I was hooked and prepared to see every film. There are now three days left (tonight, Wednesday and Thursday) and then I can indeed take a break.
But you know what?
On Friday the ‘Robert Ryan Festival’ begins at the same place. However, although that night offers up CRISS CROSS and THE SET UP (and I will probably attend) I have plans to make only three appearances at that festival. I’ve seen all the films numerous times (even on the big screen in other festivals that featured many of these films) and I do need to take a break. Same applies with the NYPD and Bernard Herrmann festivals that follow. I guess the most essential feature in the Robert Ryan festival will be THE ICEMAN COMETH, which is offered the last day. That one is rarely screened.
As you note, it’s the time to and from the place that makes teh comittment substantial. And having the Buster Keaton Festival on Mondays run concurrent really intensified things.
Incidentally my friend, the last night of that was held yesterday with a spirited screening of SEVEN CHANCES. Our family won three prizes of the 20 they gave out (Jeremy again did the picking on stage) prompting the programmer Bruce Goldstein to quip that “we rigged the results.” Ha!
I will always treasure that experience seeing SPITE MARRIAGE with you your wife and daughter weeks back!
Many thanks my friend!
Congrats on the 3 wins. You invested a lot of time and money in those Keaton screenings so a few wins is justified. Of course, one has to pick the right result to begin with so there is work involved followed by luck. I am sure you always knew the right answer so that increases the odds. In that sense, I am surprised you didn’t win more. I would say that maybe they rigged they rigged the results to limit you to 3 wins 🙂
thanks to you we will always treasure that screening. All of you helped make that a special event for us. I owe you for that still 🙂
Oops typo. I didn’t mean to repeat the words “they rigged”‘ twice but it adds dramatic effect.
I envy you seeing “Tarzan and His Mate” on the big screen! This movie contains all the essential elements of the Tarzan series, including a Tarzan all but inarticulate except for his trademark call, and what were, for the time, cutting edge special effects. Weismuller, a former Olympic swimmer, rarely missed an opportunity as Tarzan to swim across some body of water. One of the highlights of this film, suppressed from the original release, is an underwater swimming sequence with a nude Jane. I’m sure the version you saw at the Film Forum contained the sequence. I’d say this may be the best of all the Tarzan movies, and I applaud the programmers for including it. This must have been a treat for your kids.
You really will take a break after Thursday, right Sam? Any contingency plans?
Peter: The kids loved the Tarzan film! This was actually the first time they’ve ever seen it, and they delighted in the animal sequences and Tarzan’s patended whoop. I agree it’s the best Tarzan film, and deserved to be in this pre-code lineup. The famous/infamous Jane sequence you speak of was indeed included here intact, but in view of its age it’s lost something. But thinking of pre-code specifics it made quite a splash (sorry for that shameless pun!) in the early 30’s.
Thanks for the high-quality comment my friend!
What caught my attention about your amazing exploits was a movie theatre viewing of Lubitsch’s masterpiece, which is my own ultimate ‘desert island disc’.
‘Trouble in Paradise’ is a movie made before the enforcement of the “morality” laden production code of 1935, and it’s compellingly apparent. The film is laced with sexual innuendo, with racy dialogues. You do feel the sexual tension between the main characters; it is evoked, impressionistically via the deft touch of the director. Today they show us skin and explicit content.
The casting is impeccable, all actors producing stellar performances and sometimes hilarious ones from the supporting cast – think of the scene played out half in English and half in Italian when one characters tries to explain how he was robbed by a fake doctor… just priceless.
I particularly enjoy the juxtaposition of the elegant style – in the costumes, the cinematography, the lighting, the dialogues -and the profound lack of morality exhibited by each and all through the pursuit of amusement, wealth and greed. amorality was never portrayed as exquisitely.
Herbert Marshall may have carried the film from the actors’ ranks, but I love Kay Francis. I also relished the director’s superb use of doors and windows.
I know this was quite atreat for you. And I see it was paired with Dieterle’s ‘Jewel Robbery,’ which makes a lot of sense.
Bill:
This towering analysis reminds me how much you are missed at this site. Mind you, I understand you’ve been tied up for the obvious reasons, but it’s always a treat to get your kind of excpertise and appreciation. As far as this great film, you’ve pretty much framed it marvelously. Yes it was indeed a treat to seeit on the big screen!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Thanks as always Sam.
I saw THE TREE OF LIFE this week and really admired it. I’m not a Malick fan and I did really find my disappointment reinforced by the cosmic sequences of the film. But the scenes at Waco are pure divine.
Ah Srikanth, I know the cosmic sequence have divided reviewers in large mesure, and I understand why, but for me they resonated gloriously and brought a dimension to the film that enriched the thematics. But I am nonetheless thrilled to hear your reaction, and your delight with the Waco sequences.
Many thanks my friend!
Thanks so much for the mention, Sam! Sounds like you continue to have a full schedule with no end in sight. I am surprised at all the praise for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I thought it looked rather tired and hokey from the trailers and couldn’t understand why it was being made, and yet here it is with a massive opening weekend and an 80% on RottenTomatoes. I may have to check it out to see what all the fuss is about. (The original is a favorite of mine, but I’ve never seen any of the others in the series. Well, except for Tim Burton’s horrendous remake, but the less said about that, the better.)
I only saw a couple movies this week. The most significant was probably Sokurov’s Russian Ark, which was a supremely gorgeous experience. I did not understand it all–several characters seemed as if they were supposed to be real people, but were never identified as such, and there was lots of overlapping dialogue that was only partially translated in the subtitles–but it’s worth seeing for its choreography alone. I’m not entirely sure if its dissertation on Russian history is as complex as it seems or is merely a pretty overview, but count me among those fully satisfied at having seen a work of art.
Stephen—
I couldn’t agree with you more on the Burton. Like you I am a very big fan of the original franchise, and only just weeks ago attended a screening of the original classic with the family. I was also most apprehensive about this new release, but in the end was pleased it turned out to be a fine film within it’s own parameters. You may be surprised at your own reaction to the film, but either way i’d like to know what you think.
Allan feels RUSSIAN ARK is an absolute masterpiece, yet despite the fact thatg most people think it’s Sokurov’s greatest film, it’s didactic presentation always left me cold. Odd, I know, especially since I love a number of the director’s other works, especially FATHER AND SON and MOTHER AND SON. But I know it’s visually a ravishing experience and the views of art are in and of themselves extraordinary. At some point I’ll have to see it again.
But thanks again my friend for the wonderful discussion here!
My favorite part of Cooper’s King Kong is Fay Wray, with all her incessant screaming. As much as I admired Peter Jackson’s remake, I wish Wray had lived long enough to have had a cameo at the end of the movie uttering Armstrong’s now-famous “beauty killed the beast” line.
Adam: That would have been great to have in there if Wray lived long enough! Reminds me of the cameo that Kevin McCarthy had in the re-make of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS.
Thanks!
Hmmm…another good review for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I’ve heard nothing but good things. Originally I had no desire to see this (I prejudged it as another reboot of a series I thought was pretty silly to begin with) but all the good buzz has changed my mind. I will be seeing this tonight and will weigh in officially soon.
David:
I professed the same sense of consternation for this revision of a series I deeply venerate since childhood, but surprisingly it all came together, much as the vast majority of the critics have contended. I can’t gage your reaction with certainty, but either way I’ll look forward to a review at THE SCHLEICHER SPIN.
Many thanks my friend!
Is it just a coincidence that Great Britain is having riots over police violence and “austerity measures” forced on the mass of the population while the wealthy pigs stay safe and cozy in their congenial habitations as has happened in one form or another in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, and Yemen?
Can it be that the arch criminals of the Planet Earth, the bankers, and the corporations especially the oil companies, and their political lapdogs have greedily eaten up the proverbial economic pie and not even left us low class pigs the customary crumbs?
When will the rioting and looting begin in the United States?
Soon I think…
To those of you living in “the real world” who dismiss “right wing extremism” as well as “left wing extremism” as nothing but a lot of hot gas please explain to me how it has come about that the wealthiest people in the world pay almost no taxes,
living, as that old Tory Winston Spencer-Churchill described as the ideal of civilization, “peaceably in their habitations” whilst millions of children die every year of hunger and treatable diseases and the mass of the world’s populations are forced to except “austerity measures” while the fuel companies are allowed to rape the citizens at the pumps and at the meters and $330,000,000 a day goes to a war over a pipeline in Afghanistan so fuel companies can get even richer.
Is it me or does this situation resemble the France of Louis XVI just before the Revolution?
None of the Corporate news outlets are hinting at it but it seems plain as day to me that we in this country anyhow have been brainwashed into accepting what amounts to the payment of tribute to our fabulously wealthy betters.
Think of Barack Obama, Wall Street’s President, and then think of Franklin Delano Roosevelt who told the private sector that if they couldn’t put Americans to work that it was the responsibility of the government to do so.
Is this the Ancien Regime II or the Fourth Reich?
Lincoln said this government of ours is of the people for the people by the people and I tend to agree with him.
The “real world” is crumbling.
Well Sir, as always you provide much more than food for thought. There will (as always) be those who agree and others who don’t. But it seems your arguments are stronger when terrible events like the present ones happen. Personally I feel I am unqualified to add anything to this ever-cognizant assessment.
Thanks again.
Andrei Scala is often seen as a raving lunatic with uncompromising views, but I think he makes much sense in his take on the crisis in Britain. The idea of anarchy taking root in the infrastructure of other nations is a palpable one, make no mistake about it. The reasons why Britain was rocked is intertwined with government ineptitude, but there’s much more.
As far as your movie-going feat, Sam, I have one question for you:
Who’s cutting the lawn?
and who’s taking out the garbage, who’s grocery shopping, who’s taking the kids to the barber, who’s tidying the house, who’s walking the dogs?………..
LOL David and Frank!
My front lawn badly needs cuttingm, especially after that massive rainstorm of two night ago. Lucille has always done the shopping, but other important domestic chores ate unspoken for and need to be addressed. But yeah, the festival fanaticism has reazlly set us behind.
David: You make some interesting points there about Andrei Scala’s comment!
Thank you so much…you’re much too complementary…
Hello! Sam Juliano and Frank Gallo…
The current issue Of Noir City will soon be available…[Which I discovered while being “nosy,” but Of course! over there on the [Face]book.
How very apropos that actor Robert Ryan is on the cover since The Film Forum will be featuring his classic films this week too!
deedee 😉
Thank you for mentioning me Dee Dee. I look forward to taking a look at the new issue of Noir City. I am accepting wagers from people to determine whether Sam will be able to resist the opening night of the Robert Ryan Festival on Friday. It’s been a long pre-code festival for him, but I am figuring he’ll continue the grind, rather than taking a rest.
“I am accepting wagers from people to determine whether Sam will be able to resist the opening night of the Robert Ryan Festival on Friday…”
lol
“It’s been a long pre-code festival for him, but I am figuring he’ll continue the grind, rather than taking a rest.”
Frank Gallo, on a personal note, I had experienced a Shakespearean moment…Knowing that Sam Juliano just experienced the Keaton and now the pre-code festival…
…I thought to myself: “To post or Not to post? that is the question”
I decided to post because I’m quite sure Sam Juliano knew about this festival before I was even a “twinkle” in ma la mère eyes. lol
[I’m Of course, exaggerating…greatly!]
hahahaha Dee Dee (and Frank)
Well, the wager would yield you mixed blessings. While it’s true that I am now thinking of attending tomorrow evening’s opening night (THE SET UP and CROSS FIRE) of the Robert Ryan Festival, I will only attend this two week festival maybe four times. I will be there when ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW is screened, as well as subsequent showings of BILLY BUDD and THE ICEMAN COMETH. Ray’s ON DANGEROUS GROUND on Saturday, August 20th is another that will be difficult to stay away from.
I like that “Shakespearean moment” Dee Dee! Ha!