Tuesday 30 July 2019
Watership Down (1978)
A group of rabbits flee their doomed warren and face many dangers to find and protect their new home.
From memory: Excellent animated drama tells an exciting, heart-wrenching, but also rather dark tale not really suitable for a young audience.
Halliwell (no star): "A brilliantly written if somewhat pretentious parable becomes a rather flatly made cartoon in which it is difficult to distinguish one rabbit from another; the whole thing becomes a bit doomladen for family audiences, while adults will presumably prefer to reread the novel."
Maltin***1/2: "Stylish animated-cartoon...not a kiddie film. Bird character voiced by Zero Mostel provides only comic relief in this sometimes grimm cartoon...One of the best non-Disney animated features ever made."
Breaking Away (1979)
A small-town boy obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl.
From memory: Amazingly entertaining and unpretentious teen comedy has a good cast and an excellent script.
Halliwell*: "Andy Hardy would have felt at home in this fragmented comedy of the American hinterland; 1979 audiences found it a welcome relief from the stronger brews to which they had become accustomed."
Maltin***1/2: "Winning, unpretentious film...Dooley stands out in first-rate cast as Christopher's bewildered father. This sleeper hit really comes to life with an audience."
Sunday 28 July 2019
She Gods of Shark Reef (1958)
Two brothers, one wanted for murder, are shipwrecked on an island inhabited by nubile young women who have amassed a valuable cache of pearls.
Laughable and extremely boring exotic adventure, one of Corman's worst.
On re-watching: It simply doesn't get better.
Maltin BOMB: "Location filming in Hawaii does nothing for this confusing tale..."
Les tombeaux sans noms (2018)
Exploration of the lasting effects of the Cambodian genocide.
Intense, touching and harrowing documentary explores how the survivors cope with their lives amidst the all-present reminders of a genocide.
...and justice for all. (1979)
A lawyer is forced to defend a guilty judge, while defending other innocent clients, and trying to find punishment for the guilty and provide justice for the innocent.
From memory: Over-the-top satire on the US justice system has a great cast and good cinematography, but, despite in some singular moments, somehow misses the point.
Halliwell (no star): "Not so much a satire as a series of random pot-shots at the legal system, sometimes funny but cumulatively stultifying."
Maltin**1/2: "Outrageous satire mixes uncomfortably with painfully sad moments, in attempt to make stating statement on buying and selling of justice. Strong performances and good location photography cannot overcome weak script."
Saturday 27 July 2019
Summer Storm (1944)
In this filmed Chekhov adaptation, Olga is an
alluring peasant woman who lures cynical aristocrat Fedor away from his
milquetoast fiancée, with tragic consequences.
From memory: Grand Hollywood adaptation of Chekhov's novel with excellent performances by Sanders, Darnell and especially Horton is well staged, but somehow doesn't quite fit the tone of the book.
Halliwell*: "One Hollywood's occasional aberrations, an attempt to do something very European in typical west coast style. An interesting failure."
Maltin**: "Darnell gives one of her best performances...Dreary adaptation...enlivened by Horton as an amoral Russian count."
Friday 26 July 2019
Wrong Elements (2016)
Victims of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army speak up in novelist Jonathan Littell's documentary.
Although it's solely victims and perpetrators retelling the atrocities and no explicit images, this documentary very well manages to give a harrowing picture of a genocide still ongoing.
Septemberweizen (1980)
Documentary about wheat, hunger and the market mechanisms that deal with it.
From memory: Good, committed documentary presented in collage technique exposes the capitalist machinations of profiteering using wheat only as a poignant example.
Thursday 25 July 2019
Tamara Drewe (2010)
A young newspaper writer returns to her hometown in the English countryside, where her childhood home is being prepped for sale.
Meandering country town satire, only sporadically amusing.
Maltin***: "Constantly surprising lark of a film...Well cast and filmed on a beautiful location."
The Black Stallion (1979)
A young boy is shipwrecked on a deserted island with a wild Arabian stallion whom he befriends.
From memory: Surprisingly good (and old-fashioned) race horse tale aimed at a younger audience with especially beautiful cinematography.
Halliwell*: "1980 seems a bit late for boy-and-horse pictures, but this one is so beautifully directed and photographed, if drastically overlong, that most adults thought their children should see it."
Maltin***: "Exquisitely filmed story...Too slow at times, but still worthwhile, with many precious moments, stunning cinematography by Caleb Deschanel, Rooney's lovely performance as veteran horse trainer."
Mourir à tue-tête (1979)
A director and an editor, both woman, cannot work on a movie presenting the rape of a nurse, the situation of womanhood in general, and the way the 'Justice' handle those cases of rape.
From memory: Powerful metafilm on the topic of rape, not just on a singular case, but intelligently expanding its scope and analyzing the difficulties of dealing with the topic truthfully.
Saint Jack (1979)
An American hustler in early 1970s Singapore, dreams of building a fortune by running a brothel and returning to the States to lead a life of luxury.
From memory: Good character study, not without humor and irony, with some great lead performances and excellent location cinematography.
Halliwell (no star): "Whimsical, loquacious black comedy which failed to set its wavering director back on the firm ground he needed."
Maltin***: "Absorbing character study...Fine performances from Gazzara and Elliott, excellent use of location milieu."
Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
Documentary covering Neil Young's October 22, 1978 concert performance at the Cow Palace.
Great documentary of a Neil Young & Crazy Horse concert in probably the best phase of their existence; contains a lot of their best songs.
Maltin***: "Ragged-out but rousing record of Neil Young in concert, with 16 well-performed tunes by rockdom's most lovable downer. My My, Hey, Hey."
Tuesday 23 July 2019
Merci pour le chocolat (2000)
A young woman discovers that she may have been switched at birth and presents herself to her possible father And slowly discovers the dark secrets that connect her family with his.
Typical for its director this is a meticulously made satire of French/Swiss bourgeois society with a somewhat puzzling plot and an unexciting ending.
On re-watching: I still agree with my initial opinion; the ending is a bit disappointing.
Halliwell*: "Icy, ambiguous thriller that exposes the passionate screts that underlie an apparently conventional bourgeois family."
Maltin**1/2: "Subdued psychological thriller is mostly nuanced talk, with Chabrol favorite Huppert well suited to the role of perverse matriarch."
Universal Soldier (1992)
Private Luc Deveraux and his sadistic sergeant, Andrew Scott, got killed in Vietnam. The army uses their bodies for a secret project - reanimating dead soldiers as deadly obedient cyborgs. However, their memories come back too.
Well-made, but silly action vehicle for its two muscle men would like to be as good as The Terminator, but isn't by a far cry.
Halliwell (no star): "Science-fiction hokum intended to boost the appeal of its two action stars, done with enough energy and containing more than enough mayhem to appeal to fans of action movies."
Maltin**: "Van Damme and Lundgren - well, it's not exactly Tracy and March in INHERIT THE WIND. Hunks are well cast as rival cyborgs...Has the requisite number of explosions. The director sly keeps the grocery store Muzak going during Lundgren's one big emoting scene - right after he eats raw meat from a bin."
Sunday 21 July 2019
Roadie (1980)
A young Texas good ol' boy has a knack with electronic equipment, and that talent gets him a job as a roadie with a raucous travelling rock-and-roll show.
From memory: Hyped-up rock'n'roll comedy with some musical stars of the time, but not much humor.
Maltin*1/2: "Talented director Rudolph turns into a Hal Needham clone with loud, excruciatingly dopey comedy."
Big Game (2014)
A young teenager camping in the woods helps rescue the President of the United States when Air Force One is shot down near his campsite.
Likable, but otherwise run-of-the-mill actioner is obviously aimed at an more adolescent audience.
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