by Sam Juliano
Depending on your taste in weather the past week has either been excrutiatingly hot or markedly beautiful in and around the Big Apple. Certainly, for the most part the humidity has been low, allowing a scorching hot sun to exert minimal discomfort for those spending much of their time outdoors. For those less adventurous, there is always the allure of air conditioned at home film viewings, or local trips to the theaters. In any event, it does seem like the summer is moving along with mid July imminently at hand. Some in our fraternity are preparing for their long awaited vacations, and I wish all a great time.
Here at Wonders in the Dark the Greatest Childhood/Adolescent Films Countdown has completed three full weeks. Comments and page views have been consistently fine, with a few instances of excellence. As was the case with past countdowns, there was one film that remained unclaimed, meaning no review was posted. It doesn’t appear that this are instance will be happening again during the countdown. The writing has been first-rate and the films themselves an honor to consider for any countdown.
Lucille, Sammy, Danny and I attended the ‘First Annual Children’s Book Celebration” in the Queens Museum, located in Flushing on the grounds of the 1964 World’s Fair (which I attended as a ten-year old Lincoln School student) on Saturday afternoon from 12 to 4. The museum is situated a very short distance from CitiField and the Corona Park Tennis Courts. We met the renowned author illustrator and FB frie Sergio Ruzzier and the Caldecott Honor winning artist David Ezra Stein among others, and strolled the grounds near the famed World’s Fair Unisphere. Danny, an aspiring artist himself, drew on the public canvas inside. A fabulous NYC map was displayed along a wall. Ruzzier’s new fantastic work TWO MICE is due out in September!
The past week marks a rarity for me – not a single film watched in the theaters for various reasons (we attended a wedding on Thursday) and I engaged in multiple sessions of physical therapy and two appearances at the dentist. Lucille and four of the kids saw the new animated film Minions, but I stayed back. I nearly watched the British period film Testament of Youth, but will definitely see it this upcoming week. It doesn’t seem to me that there is much out there at all that would inspire anyone to go out of their way for, but this is no surprise during the summer months. I did watch and rewatch some blu rays and DVDs on my HD wide screen of just acquired titles from Criterion (50% off Barnes & Noble Sale) Arrow and Masters of Cinema, as well as some films I will be reviewing in the countdown this coming week. I have decided to offer up ratings for these films, a practice I usually only reserve for the films seen in theaters:
The Bridge **** 1/2 (1959 German war anti-war film) Criterion
Milano Calibro 9 **** (1972 Italian crime film by Fernando DiLeo) Arrow
A Letter to Three Wives **** 1/2 (romantic drama by Joseph L. Mankiewicz) Masters of Cinema
Deranged ** (stomach churning horror film based on Ed Gein) Arrow
The Last Emperor **** 1/2 (Bernardo Bertolucci multiple Oscar winner) Criterion
Empire of the Sun ***** (1987 Spielberg war film starring Christian Bale) Warners
Sounder **** 1/2 (drama of African American family in the south based on Newbery novel)
On another day of the week I might give A LETTER TO THREE WIVES and THE LAST EMPEROR the top five-star rating. Heck I might do so tomorrow! The prints of all the films were seen on blu rays with the sole of excption of SOUNDER, which is only available on DVD. They all looked stunning (again with the sole exception of SOUNDER, which was fine enough).
I have re-printed last week’s links here, but have revised a good number of them:
At Noirish our great friend the esteemed prolific author John Grant has posted an exceptional essay on the fairly onscure 1940 short feature “Haunted House”: https://noirencyclopedia.wordpress.com/2015/07/11/haunted-house-1940/
At Overlook’s Corridor, the cinematic storm trooper Jaimie Grijalba used soccer as a metaphor to examines films from Chile and Australia. His heady analysis is a film lover’s bliss: https://overlookhotelfilm.wordpress.com/2015/07/04/final-cup-america-2015-la-teta-asustada-2009-vs-cronica-de-un-nino-solo-1965/
Over at Twenty Four Frames our ever-resilient friend, the great writer, photographer and animal lover John Greco takes a look at the tense and disturbing film noir “The Window” (1949) and a remarkable child performance by Bobby Driscoll: https://twentyfourframes.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/the-window-1949-ted-tetzlaff/
At Tuesdays with Laurie, our remarkable friend again Laurie Buchanan registers resonantly with her latest post “Sis Boom Bah”: http://tuesdayswithlaurie.com/2015/07/07/sis-boom-bah/
Over at Attractive Variance Jamie Uhler offers us an authoritative musical capsule piece titled “Six Days of Bass”: https://attractivevariance.wordpress.com/2015/06/16/six-days-of-bass/
At Movie Classics, Judy Geater is still leading up wither her fabulous piece on Del Lord’s 1936 “Trapped by Television”:https://movieclassics.wordpress.com/2015/05/17/trapped-by-television-del-lord-1936/
Our longtime friend the film maker and movie lover extraordinaire Jeffrey Goodman has recently been exploring Ozu at his blogsite The Last Lullaby. His latest superlative capsule review is on “The Straightforward Boy” (1929): http://cahierspositif.blogspot.com/2015/05/a-straightforward-boy-1929.html
Ever exploring new angles the resilient Tony d’Ambra has posted a brilliant piece on “Noir Beat: The Finnish Connection” at FilmsNoir.net: http://filmsnoir.net/film_noir/noir-beat-the-finnish-connection.html/
Over at Patricia’s Wisdom, the terrific book reviewer and friend Patricia Hamilton movingly explores “The Bounce! A Story of Love, Loss and the Life of a Global Indian: http://patriciaswisdom.com/2015/07/the-bounce-a-story-of-love-loss-and-the-life-of-a-global-indian-mohan/
At Scribbles and Ramblings Sachin Gandhi speaks glowingly of the Childhood/Adolescent Countdown and offers up his own superlative list – one that was submitted for tabulation: http://likhna.blogspot.com/2015/07/top-childhood-films.html
At It Rains….You Get Wet Robert Tower has posted a fascinating feature on 2015 ‘Bests’: http://le0pard13.com/2015/07/03/summers-here-year-of-bests-2015/
J. D. Lafrance offers up a splendid essay on Don Siegel’s 1959 “The Lineup” at Radiator Heaven: http://rheaven.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-lineup.html
Shubhajit Lahiri has penned an excellent review of Woody Allen’s 1992 “Husbands and Wives” at Cinemascope: http://cliched-monologues.blogspot.com/2015/07/husbands-and-wives-1992.htm
At Unseen Films the incredible Steve Kopian speaks of the last weekend of the New York Asian Film Festival: http://unseenfilms.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-final-friday-at-nyaff-2015.html
Roderick Heath’s excellent essay on Abel Ferrara’s 2014 “Welcome to New York” is leading the way at Ferdy on Films: http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/2015/welcome-to-new-york-2014/25142/
At Lost in the Movies our longtime friend Joel Bocko is leading up with a banner piece on “Neon Genesis Evangelion: Episode 8: Asuka Strikes”: http://thedancingimage.blogspot.com/2015/07/neon-genesis-evangelion-episode-8-asuka.html
At Mondo 70 the remarkably resilient and talented Samuel Wilson has written a lovely tribute to 83 year old screen legend Omar Shariff, who recently passed: http://mondo70.blogspot.com/2015/07/omar-sharif-1932-2015.html
Terrill Welch’s incomparably beautiful Creative Potager blogsite offers up all kinds of nature-inspired sublimity, as can be seen and felt in her latest post: http://creativepotager.com/2015/06/29/a-seascape-as-a-place-to-be-on-saturna-island/
At Filmicability Dean Treadway’s latest post is a superlative examination of the famous film year 1940: http://filmicability.blogspot.com/2015/07/1940-year-in-review.html
At Vermillion and One Nights Murderous Ink has posted a unique and fascinating piece on “Bing Crosby and Art of Recording”: http://vermillionandonenights.blogspot.com/2015/06/bing-crosby-and-art-of-recording.html
David Schleicher has penned a superlative review on the Amy Winehouse documentary I saw myself last week at The Schleicher Spin: http://theschleicherspin.com/2015/07/12/and-now-its-dark-with-amy-winehouse/
Weeping Sam offers up a list of some great songs on a post titled “Musical Interlude” at The Listening Ear: http://listeningear.blogspot.com/2015/07/musical-interlude.html
Aaron West has published a superb review on Chang-dong Lee’s “Secret Sunshine” (2007) at Criterion Blues: http://criterionblues.com/2015/07/11/secret-sunshine-2007-chang-dong-lee/
At The Reluctant Blogger the photographer Jeff Stroud still leads up with his marvelous reflective piece “Suddenly”: https://jeffstroud.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/suddenly/
Quite a week of viewings, Sammy. The last three are some of my all-time favorites, too. Hope you’re feeling better and thanks so much for the linkage, my friend. Much appreciated. 🙂
Thrilled to hear that Robert! The ones you site are indeed deserving of unlimited praise! Things are coming along well, thank you do much! Have as special upcoming week!
Hey Sam, if you are watching TV you should hook into Mr Robot. First three episodes have aired. Really exciting stuff.
Thanks for that recommendation Tony!! i will promptly investigate. Honestly I have not yet heard of this show, but I’ve been away from the television stuff. I am presently copying the first season of TRUE DETECTIVE, and plan to take the official plunge soon. I am sure we will be coming notes my friend! Have a great week!
Many thanks for the exceptionally useful list of links, Sam, and of course for the shoutout. Those are some fine (and some not so fine) movies you’ve been watching at home.
Here’s hoping the physical therapy is going well.
John, I am quite pleased with the quality of the work being done at NOIRISH and in our circle. Happy to point them out my friend! I seem to have reach the end of my first prescription of physical therapy sessions, but I may still have some more. Have a great week my friend.
Well Sam I admit to not doing much movie watching that warrants a review for a few months now. Summers just leave me wanting to do other things until dark. Thanks for your mention yet again 🙂 I hope to have a new post out by the end of the week but we shall see. Enjoy your summer!
Terrill—
I can well understand this is a time of the year when the outdoors is especially appreciated. Home viewing usually coincides with staying indoors because of inclement weather. I will be keeping watch for your new post my friend! Have a special week.
WE STAYED indoors this weekend pretty much this past weekend as the heat spell moved off and we had clouds and much needed rain. SF and Portland daughters here to celebrate Tom’s birthday and because of my surgery he could not ride the 204 miles of the Seattle to Portland on the big day. After 15 times he was still disappointed not to ride. He did find a house (with no stairs) for us to purchase, now we just need to sell our beautiful energy efficient house – lots of lookers not takers.
I got him to go downstairs to watch a movie, After 6 months of no use our DVD player has given up and the batteries were dead in all the clickers. He helped me down the stairs and I changed batteries and we finally watched CHEF on streaming netflix. I could not get prime to play. With the mountains and lake and Puget Sound could not get the Smart TV to work either we just need grounded cable I guess.
CHEF was pretty good and I of course loved watching a visual story after 6 months of starvation. I was so happy for handicapped toilets at theater so I could see Inside Out last weekend
I too am spending lots of time at Physical Therapy, it is a drive away and I am also sitting in the car with ZIP when folks come to view the house. Reading !!
Stay cool Enjoying the countdown
Patricia—
Great to hear your family spent the past weekend together for the birthday! And nice to hear some rain for a drought stricken area! Congratulations on the upcoming move and home acquisition!! Sorry to hear Tom couldn’t ride though. CHEF is quite a fun film. We first saw it at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival. Glad we agree. And INSIDE OUT was certainly one of the best Pixars. I just got my own 12 session renewal for physical therapy today. Hang in their my friend. I wish you an enjoyable upcoming weekend. Thanks too for the kind words about the countdown!
Sam, thanks for the shoutout. The week was quiet except for Saturday afternoon when Dorothy and I went to photograph a nearby nest that she spotted recently containing a baby Red-bellied Woodpecker. We stayed for a little over an hour shooting ( My wife actually got the best shots) before the Fla.heat just got to us.
On the film front I saw the following…
1,000 Times Good Nigh (****) excellent performance by Juliette Binoche
Shadow on the Wall (***) surprising noirish role for Ann Southern
High Wall (****)
A Woman’s Secret (**) Disappointing Nicholas Ray
Crime Doctor (***)
Also re-watched The Set-up (****1/2)
Have a great week!,,
John, I’d love to have seen that ‘red-bellied woodpecker’ but photos of this bird and the nest would be great! I hope they will be available on line. THE SET-UP is one of Robert Wise’s best films, so we are on the same page for sure! Agreed that A WOMAN’S SECRET is lesser Ray. SHADOW ON THE WALL is decent as you assert, and HIGH WALL is very fine. The others I have not seen to this point. Many thanks as always my friend. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Opps! I meant to add a link to my Photography FB page with Dorothy’s Woodpecker photos.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/John-Greco-Photography/218148168210053?ref=hl
Fair enough John. Thank you!
Hello Sam and everyone!
Well, here in Chile it’s chilly and windy and it’s been raining for a couple of days so we’re at complete opposite as always! This world we live in!
It’s nice to see you took it back a notch and saw some good films on your house, some of those I’ve actually seen, like The Last Emperor (****) and Empire of the Sun (****1/2), great choices!
So, these are the movies I saw last week:
– All That Heaven Allows (1955, Douglas Sirk) ****1/2 The performances from Wyman and Hudson are perfect for the kind of story that is being told here, and no matter what their real ages were, they played the roles (she looks older than she really is, he looks younger than he truly is) in such a physical and intellectual manner that we can understand the troubles they go through when it comes down to what we call in spanish “el qué dirán” (“the what will people say”, dunno if there’s an equivalent for that). Sirk goes crazy with the color palette and it might be the most outrageously colorful film that I have seen in a long time, all thanks to the extravagant choices of furniture, curtains, dresses and even sometimes the windows (the scene where the daughter tells her that she might’ve ruined her life, the window has this rainbow filter of sorts and the movie seems like it had dropped some acid just then). All that can’t avoid that the ending feels a bit tad soap-opera-y and unnecessary to what it could’ve amounted to (and hearing that there was a worse version makes me imagine how much I could’ve hated this movie if it had gone that route… the route of absolute melodrama…)
– Goodfellas (1990, Martin Scorsese) **** This rewatch made me realize that my gut reaction from watching this when I was way way younger was correct, who would’ve known! This movie is ok and watchable mostly due to Martin Scorsese and the way that he films and edits this, but this is just a parade of unlikeable characters, one after the other, and once they get caught it’s just like a cry of “finally” instead of “poor guys”. Why is Wolf of Wall Street better than this? Because it manages to explain the technicalities behind every movement that made him the person he is, while this is just “gangsters are cool, let’s shoot and edit the shit out of this”.
– A Mother Should Be Loved (1934, Yasujiro Ozu) ***1/2 Has an entertaining central problem with the relationship between brothers, mother and a dead father, but it doesn’t go beyond that nor it evolves through time. It still is surprising to find some shots here and there that are seminal to the final and best work of Ozu, but this required a bit more of drama. It did seem that as it started and as it ended (even though we lost the first and final reel) was better than any of the constant quips and discussions that the brothers had and how mean they were to their mother at points.
– Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg) ****1/2 This time the film works much better, specially when it comes down to the speeches towards the end and how this film works both as a film about male bonding and as a metaphor of erectile dysfunction.
– Masked and Anonymous (2003, Larry Charles) ***1/2 I only like two Bob Dylan songs and he sings neither in this film.
– Spy (2015, Paul Feig) ***1/2 Not exactly funny, but I can see this as better than “The Heat”, which was also Ok. A step-up for Paul Feig and his visual choreography, but it still lacks that laugh-out-loud comedy that I look for. Still, it manages to be intense and thrilling, which is rare for such a broad comedy, and also grabs your attention with its CIA antics, even though much of the convoluted plot elements don’t make sense or just aren’t that smart.
I am also gonna start something new this week at my blog, so check it out everyone! Thanks and have a good week!
Jaimie, as far as my taste in concerned, I’d say this is one of the greatest weeks you’ve ever had viewing movies!! ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, GOODFELLAS, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, JAWS, that early Ozu, all high quality stuff! Your capsules are astute and engaging as well! ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, a ravishing film, and the forerunner of FAR FROM HEAVEN, is my favorite Sirk; yes it is high soap opera, but that is really the deliberate aim. I agree the color is stunning, and the decor rapturous. A great score as well. I agree that the characters in GOODFELLAS are largely unlikeable, but I didn’t see that from detracting as each in their own way are fascinating and the picture is a stylish entertainment, rightly one of Scorsese’s top tier in popularity. But heck, I know many are in your camp. That early Ozu lacks the quality of his more polished films absolutely. And JAWS is always a lot of fun. Again a stupendous comment, and congrats on the tremendous posts up at your place!! 🙂
Four stars for Milano Calibre 9! I didn’t think you had it in you, sir. I hope you have the rest of Di Leo’s trilogy to watch. If you thought Mario Adorf was good in Calibre 9 you’ll love him as the protagonist in the next one. I wish I was discovering stuff that good. Most recently I’ve seen Jan Troell’s The Emigrants, which though a slog at first — intentionally, I think — left me eager for The New Land;Roy Del Ruth’s Red Light,a strangely spiritual noir in which George Raft is rewarded for eschewing revenge with divine retribution on the men who killed his brother;and Henry Hathaway’s Now and Forever, a film on the knife’s edge separating Pre-Code and Code-Enforcement Hollywood, teasing us with the possibility that suave con man Gary Cooper might corrupt his daughter Shirley Temple, and still not reconciled by the end to family conquering all. The best thing made for TV right now is Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell on BBC America, if you hadn’t figured that out yourself.
Samuel, I am delighted to see you here my longtime friend! As to MILANO CALIBRO 9, this was the very first time I have seen it (the fabulous Region 2 Arrow blu-ray is loaded!) and I was quickly drawn into the mobland violence. Unfortunately I have not seen any other Di Leo films, and will do what I can to clear the way for the rest of the trilogy. Looks like Arrow hasn’t yet committed to those, but other means are available I know. Adorf was indeed fantastic!!! I was torn between 4.0 and 4.5, and may yet go with the higher rating. Artful entertainment of a very high order! I am a huge fan of both THE EMIGRANTS and THE NEW LAND, and in view of your initial indifference, I am thinking the second part will impress you greater. There are reasons, but I’ll stay mum. Allan is not a fan of these films, and we’ve had our rows. 🙂 The spiritual noir RED LIGHT has me mighty intrigued, and I do love Del Ruth. Neither have I seen Hathaway’s film, so I need to get moving. That strong BBC recommendation will spur on an investigation from me. Another enterprise that has slipped under the radar. Many thanks my friend. Have a special week!
Sam —
Right up my heart’s alley, you and yours’ attendance at the First Annual Children’s Book Celebration sounds like a wonderful time! Do you think Danny’s artistic aspirations may include book illustrations? Oh my gosh, wouldn’t that be something?! I could say with great pride, “I met this young man!”
Laurie— I do well know your great appreciation of the book festivals and exhibits. Danny certainly is talented, and he has indeed talked about book illustrations. To be sure we are encouraging him. Ha, thanks for the confidence, which I will relay to him. Have a great res-of-the-week my friend!
I am really looking forward to that Criterion blu ray of “The Bridge.” I think they will be making the new announcements any day now.
Tim, I’m most confident you will appreciate THE BRIDGE quite a bit! Would love to compare notes. Yes new announcements will probably be posted tomorrow. Many thanks my friend. Enjoy the rest of the week!
Sam thanks so much for the mention!
I hope this finds your physical therapy going well and your knee back to 100% or nearly. The first two films you mention seeing are both new names to me and have me very interested. I will have to seek them out as both sound quite good.
And I am happy to have a couple of more reports on this end as well. This week I caught up with the Sundance hit ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL and the next Ozu film, this time I FLUNKED BUT… I was glad to see the former as I am always curious what gets Sundance audiences excited and the Ozu, although not at his later masterpiece level, was quite enjoyable to see particularly to learn how his style evolved during those early years.
Thanks so much Sam!