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TOM'S REVIEWS
******** 07/30/04 *****************************
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FILMS
VIEWED OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS:
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Ratings
* * * * * *
Must See, An Artistic Great Film. Most Highly Recommended
* * * * *
Well Worth Seeing, Good Film. Highly Recommended
* * * * Worth the Effort,
Good Film. Recommended
* * *
Entertaining, Recommended Rental
* *
For Personal Tastes Only
*
Not Worth
You Time
0 Run!
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AT
THE MOVIES NOW
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THE
CLEARING (2004) * * * * *
Directed by Pieter Jan Brugge; written by Justin Haythe, based on a story by
Mr. Brugge and Mr. Haythe; director of photography, Denis Lenoir; edited by
Kevin Tent; music by Craig Armstrong; production designer, Chris Gorak; produced
by Mr. Brugge, Palmer West and Jonah Smith; released by Fox Searchlight
Pictures. Running time: 91 minutes. This film is rated R.
WITH: Robert Redford (Wayne Hayes), Helen Mirren (Eileen Hayes), Willem Dafoe
(Arnold Mack), Alessandro Nivola (Tim Hayes), Matt Craven (Agent Fuller),
Melissa Sagemiller (Jill Hayes) and Wendy Crewson (Louise Miller).
Other films
by Pieter Jan Brugge: Clearing, The (2004)
From CINEBOOKS DB: Cool, restrained and
steeped in tight-lipped WASP repression, producer Pieter Jan Brugge's directing
debut tells two intimately connected stories simultaneously and unites them in
a chilly fog of sadness. Having made a fortune in the car-rental business and
cashed out, businessman Wayne Hayes (Robert Redford) is restless and unfulfilled.
Their children grown, he and his wife, Eileen (Helen Mirren), build their dream
home in
TOM'S
VIEW: Give
me Robert Redford AND Helen Mirren and even I could direct a good film!
While most reviews of THE CLEARING
are luke warm, I found the film very good with good performances from Helen
Mirren and Robert Redford. Maybe its the ease with which both Mirren and
and his
character seems to be him. Fine work by the ever under-appreciated Willem
Dafoe also. Highly recommended.
I, ROBOT (2004) * *
* *
Directed by Alex Proyas;
written by Jeff Vintar and Akiva Goldsman, based on a screen story by Mr.
Vintar and suggested by the book by Isaac Asimov; director of photography,
Simon Duggan; edited by Richard Learoyd, Armen Minasian and William Hoy; music
by Marco Beltrami; production designer, Patrick Tatopoulos; produced by
Laurence Mark, John Davis, Topher Dow and Wyck Godfrey; released by 20th
Century Fox. Running time: 110 minutes. This film is rated PG-13.
WITH: Will Smith (
Other films
by Alex Proyas: I, Robot (2004), Garage Days (2002), Dark City (1998), Book of Dreams:
'Welcome to Crateland' (1994), Crow,
The (1994), Songlines (1989) (V) (video
"Mysteries of Love"), Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the
Clouds (1989), Spineless (1987), Strange Residues (1981), Groping (1980)
From CINEBOOKS DB: When is I, ROBOT not I, Robot? When it's a
script called Hardwired conflated with elements of Isaac Asimov's
seminal robot tales, including bits of the nine loosely connected short stories
collected in 1950's I, Robot and snippets of the later robot novels,
massaged to suit Will Smith's action-guy persona. There's so little Asimov in
the mix that his contribution is relegated to a "suggested by"
credit, and sci-fi savvy moviegoers will recognize the movie's debt to BLADE RUNNER (1982), ROBOCOP (1987) and 2001 (1968). The
surprise: Derivativeness aside, it's an unexpectedly engaging futuristic
mystery that hinges on the confounding possibility that a mechanical being may
have murdered cutting-edge roboticist Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), even
though standard robot programming should make such a crime impossible. All
robots are hardwired with three laws: Harming a human being or letting one be
hurt is forbidden; human orders must be obeyed, except when they contradict the
first law; and self-preservation is required unless it conflicts with either of
the first two directives.
TOM'S
VIEW: Yes,
Sci-Fi purists will be outraged that Asimov's I, Robot has been hijacked. Get over it, it's
only a movie. It certainly is a passable summer action flick. Like Minority Report, most of the interesting
science fiction takes place alongside the story line: automated hiways,
buildings with "brains" that run the building, a wide variety of
personal computer enhancements, automated clean-up of wrecks on the automated
hiways, etc. Will, still sporting his enhanced physique developed for Ali, goes head to artifical head with the
robots - thanks largely to some bionic enhancements of his own. The most
interesting characters are not human but artificial - Sonny, the robot not
bound by Asimov's robotic laws, and Viki, representing an evolutionary robotic
advance. I liked it.
THE
BOURNE SUPREMACY (2004) * * * * * *
Directed by Paul
Greengrass; written by Tony Gilroy, based on the novel by Robert Ludlum;
director of photography, Oliver Wood; edited by Christopher Rouse and Richard
Pearson; music by John Powell; production designer, Dominic Watkins; produced
by Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley and Paul L. Sandberg; executive producers,
Doug Liman, Jeffrey M. Weiner and Henry Morrison; released by Universal
Pictures. Running time: 120 minutes. This film is rated PG-13.
WITH: Matt Damon (Jason
Bourne), Franka Potente (Marie), Brian Cox (Ward Abbott), Julia Stiles (Nicky),
Karl Urban (Kirill), Karel Roden (Gretkov), Gabriel Mann (Danny Zorn) and Joan
Allen (Pamela Landy).
Other films
by Paul Greengrass: Bourne Supremacy, The (2004), Bloody Sunday (2002), Murder of
Stephen Lawrence, The (1999) (TV), Theory of Flight, The (1998),
Fix, The
(1997) (TV), One That Got Away, The (1996) (TV), "
From CINEBOOKS DB: A refreshing
alternative to the hypertrophied spy thrillers in which exaggerated action
sequences, over-the-top super-villainy and high-tech gadgetry trump character
and plot. Amnesiac assassin Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and his girlfriend, Marie
(Franka Potente), have been in hiding since Bourne press-ganged her into
helping him piece together a series of fragmentary clues about his very scary
past. Still uncertain who he really is he's got half a dozen passports, each
more convincing than the one before and tormented by nightmares, Bourne has
used his covert skills to keep them off the radar just in case his former
colleagues decide to come calling. But their current idyll in
TOM'S
VIEW: Be sure
to get some deep breaths before the movie starts, there are only a couple of
other places to breathe during the movie. The director is especially
gifted at placing you in amidst the action whether it is a fight or a chase or
car chase. One sequence serves as an excellent "offensive
driving" course! Highly recommended!
ZHOU
YU'S TRAIN (2003) * * * * *
Directed by Sun Zhou;
written (in Mandarin, with English subtitles) by Mr. Sun, Bei Cun and Zhang Mei;
director of photography, Wang Yu; edited by William Chang; music by Shigeru
Umebayashi; production designer, Sun Li; produced by Huang Jianxin, Mr. Sun and
Bill Kong; released by Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: 97 minutes. This
film is rated PG-13.
WITH: Gong Li (Zhou
Yu/Xiu), Tony Leung Ka Fai (Chen Qing) and Honglei Sun (Zhang Qiang).
Other films
by Sun Zhou: Zhou Yu's Train (Zhou Yu de huo che) (2002), Breaking the
Silence (Piao liang ma ma) (1999), True-Hearted, The (Xin xiang)
(1993), Di xue huang hun (1989)
From CINEBOOKS DB: Based on an acclaimed
Chinese novel and starring two of China's biggest movie stars, director Sun
Zhou's curious love story is nevertheless more confounding than romantic.
Painter Zhou Yu (Gong Li) uses her extraordinary talent to decorate vases and
bowls for a ceramics factory in Sanming, a town in northwestern
TOM'S
VIEW: I
actually saw this on DVD after having discovered an Asian DVD outlet that sells
all region DVDs. We usually have to wait a couple of years to get newer
releases from
YOUNG
ADAM (2004) * * * * *
Directed by David Mackenzie; written by Mr. Mackenzie, based on the novel by
Alexander Trocchi; director of photography, Giles Nuttgens; edited by Colin
Monie; music by David Byrne; production designer, Laurence Dorman; produced by
Jeremy Thomas; released by Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: 93 minutes.
This film is not rated.
WITH: Ewan
McGregor (Joe), Tilda Swinton (Ella), Peter Mullan (Les), Emily Mortimer
(Cathie), Jack McElhone (Jim), Therese Bradley (Gwen), Ewan Stewart (Daniel
Gordon), Stuart McQuarrie (Bill), Pauline Turner (Connie), Alan Cooke (Bob
M'bussi) and Rory McCann (Sam).
Other films
by David Mackenzie: Young Adam (2003), Last Great Wilderness, The (2002),
Darcie's Dowry (1999), Somersault (1999), California Sunshine (1997)
From CINEBOOKS DB: Scottish writer-director
David Mackenzie's impressive feature debut is a cool and creepy adaptation of
Glaswegian Beat writer Alexander Trocchi's 1957 novel about a disaffected young
man who wrestles with his conscience only to discover that he may not have one
at all. A white swan paddles across the screen and the livid, bloated corpse of
a dead woman, dressed only in a slip, floats into frame. It's the 1950s,
somewhere on the shore of the River Clyde, where bargemen like Joe (Ewan
McGregor) and his grizzled boss, Les (Peter Mullan), make their living hauling
coal up and down the canals that connect the capital city with
TOM'S
VIEW: Shades of L'Atalante (1934). Good flick!
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OUT
ON DVD/VHS
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COMES
A HORSEMAN (1980) * * * * * *
Director: Alan J. Pakula; Producer: Gene Kirkwood,
Dan Paulson; Writer: Dennis Lynton Clark; Editor: Marion Rothman; Musical Composer: Michael Small; Production Designer: George Jenkins;
Cinematographer: Gordon Willis; Country
of Origin:
WITH: James
Caan (Frank), Jane Fonda
(Ella), Jason Robards (Ewing), George
Grizzard (Neil Atkinson),
Richard Farnsworth (Dodger), Jim
Davis (Julie Blocker), Mark
Harmon (Billy Joe Meynert),
Academy
Award Nomination:
Best Supporting Actor - Richard Farnsworth</DD< DD>
Other films
by Alan J. Pakula: Devil's
Own, The (1997), Pelican Brief, The
(1993), Consenting Adults (1992), Presumed
Innocent (1990), See You in the
Morning (1989), Orphans (1987), Dream Lover (1986), Sophie's Choice (1982), Rollover (1981), Starting
Over (1979), Comes a Horseman (1978), All the President's Men (1976), Parallax
View, The (1974), Love
and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1973),
Klute (1971), Sterile
Cuckoo, The (1969)
FROM CINEBOOKS DB:
An unusual staging of the American West. Alan J. Pakula, master of paranoia (KLUTE, THE
PARALLAX VIEW, ALL THE
PRESIDENT'S MEN), directed this offbeat film noir western set after
WWII with James Caan as a cowhand, Jane Fonda as a ranch owner, and Jason
Robards as the evil oil tycoon. The real star of the film is unbilled: a
stretch of lush green land in
Fonda is a rancher fighting to
retain her independence from local mogul Robards, who is attempting to carve
out an empire in this post-WWII world out west. Fonda and Robards slept
together before she was old enough to know better, and she hates him for that
and for a host of other reasons. Caan, also independent and newly returned from
the service, teams with Fonda when his partner is killed (probably on Robards's
mandate). While Fonda and Caan are resisting Robards, Robards is resisting the
pleas of an oil company that wants to come in and drill. A throwback to the
ranchers of the old days, when such landholders were almost kings, Robards
yearns for those times. Fonda wishes Robards would leave her alone so that she
could just run her ranch with a bit of time off to fall in love with Caan, who
is trying to forget the horrors of war. Farnsworth, as Dodger, Fonda's aging
hand, received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
TOM'S VIEW: This is one of my favorite
films. It has underappreciated James Caan and underappreciated and not
well known Richard Farnsworth. You cannot even imagine that Jane Fonda
would be cast in this role much less that she would be absolutely great in
it. Highly recommended!</DD< DD>
KLUTE (1971) * * * * * *
Director: Alan J. Pakula; Producer: David Lang, Alan
J. Pakula; Writer: Dave Lewis, Andy
Lewis; Editor: Carl Lerner;
Musical Composer: Michael Small;
Art Director: George Jenkins; Cinematographer: Gordon Willis; Country of
Origin:
WITH: Jane Fonda (Bree Daniels), Donald Sutherland (John Klute), Charles Cioffi (Peter Cable), Roy Scheider (Frank Ligourin), Dorothy Tristan (Arlyn Page), Rita Gam (Trina), Vivian Nathan (Psychiatrist), Nathan George (Lt. Trask), Morris Strassberg (Mr. Goldfarb), Jean Stapleton (Goldfarb's Secretary), Barry Snider (Berger)
Other films by Alan J. Pakula:
Devil's Own, The (1997), Pelican
Brief, The (1993), Consenting Adults (1992), Presumed Innocent (1990), See You in the Morning (1989), Orphans
(1987), Dream Lover (1986), Sophie's
Choice (1982), Rollover
(1981), Starting Over
(1979), Comes a Horseman (1978), All
the President's Men (1976),
Parallax View, The
(1974), Love and Pain and the Whole Damn
Thing (1973), Klute (1971), Sterile Cuckoo, The
(1969)
From CINEBOOKS DB: Along
with BARBARELLA and THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY?, one of
the best things the highly variable Jane Fonda has ever done.
When a research scientist turns up missing, his best friend, John Klute
(Sutherland), a small-town police detective, goes to
The film's predictable plotting is not its strong point, nor is Pakula's
uneven direction. The strictly thriller aspects of the film vary from the
artfully constructed to the showy but shallow. It's as if Pakula feels
compelled to indulge all the conventions of the genre, but without quite
knowing why. On the other hand, he does ably highlight some of the more
provocative and complex aspects of Andy and Dave Lewis's often fine screenplay.
We see Bree calmly look at her watch while simulating passionate sex, and she
develops a sentimental attachment to the lonely old man who simply likes to
look at her nude. Bree can, with perfect professionalism, explain that certain
sex acts will cost clients more, but she also cowers from an awareness of her
own vulnerability and realizes the painful contradictions in her life.
Sutherland is either an excellent sounding board for this nuanced portrait
or he's a big zero, probably both. Fonda, however, transcends her limitations,
making the most of her often forced quality as an actress. Bree emerges as
likably strong yet dangerously weak, refreshingly intelligent yet searching and
confused.
TOM'S VIEW: Despite the review above, this
film was the first of some great performances by both Sutherland and
Fonda. Neither had really gave us any inkling of the depth of their
talent until their collaboration yielded this fine film. The film was also
the first of mant great films by Alan Pakula. Highly recomended.
RIPLEYS GAME (IL GIOCO DI RIPLEY) (2001) * * * *
Director: Liliana Cavani; Producer: Simon Bosanquet, Ileen
Maisel, Riccardo Tozzi; Writer: Liliana Cavani, Charles McKeown (based on the novel by
Patricia Highsmith); Editor: Jon Harris; Musical Composer: Ennio Morricone; Production Designer: Francesco Frigeri; Cinematographer: Alfio Contini; Country of Origin: Italy; U.K.; Color; Production Co(s).: Baby Films; Cattleya; Dogstar Films; Mr. Mudd; Released By: New Line Home
Entertainment; MPAA Rating: R;
Running time: 110 minutes
WITH: John Malkovich (Tom Ripley), Ray Winstone (Reeves), Uwe Mansshardt (Terry), Hanns Zischler (Art Dealer), Paolo Paoloni (Franco), Maurizio Luca (Franco's Assistant), Dougray Scott (Jonathan Trevanny), Evelina Meghnagi (Maria), Chiara Caselli (Louisa Harari), Lena Heady (Sarah Trevanny)
Other films by Liliana
Cavani: Ripley's
Game (
From CINEBOOKS DB: Chronologically the third of Patricia Highsmith's five Ripley novels,
Liliana Cavani's film transplants the novel's action from
TOM'S VIEW: Malkovich is born to play Ripley. Entertaining.
TILL HUMAN VOICES WAKE US (2002) * * * * *
Director:
Michael Petroni; Producer: Dean Murphy, Mathias Emcke, Shana Levine, Nigel Odell,
Thomas Augsberger, David Redman; Writer: Michael Petroni; Editor:
Bill Murphy; Musical Composer:
Dale Cornelius, Amotz Plessner;
Production Designer: Ralph Moser;
Art Director: Adele Flere; Cinematographer: Roger Lanser; Country of Origin: U.S.; Color; Production Co(s).: Australian Film
Finance Corporation; Instinct Entertainment; Key Entertainment; Released By: Paramount Classics; MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 97 minutes
WITH: Guy Pearce (Dr. Sam
Franks), Helena Bonham Carter (Ruby),
Frank Gallacher (Maurie Lewis),
Lindley Joyner (Young Sam
Franks), Brooke Harman (Silvy
Lewis), Peter Curtin (Dr. David
Franks), Margot Knight (Dorothy
Lewis), Anthony Martin (Russ),
Dawn Klingberg (Mrs. Sacks),
David Ravenswood (Lawyer),
Stewart Faichney (Reverend
Mortenbury), Diana Greentree (Mrs.
Pickford)
Other films by Michael Petroni: Till Human Voices Wake Us (2002),
Trespasses (1999)
From CINEBOOKS DB: Taking its title from the final haunting verse of T.S. Eliot's "The
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," screenwriter Michael Petroni's directing
debut is like a well-crafted ghost story: It's smart, subtle and deeply
romantic. Successful
TOM'S VIEW: Strange but entertaining!
THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD
(1969) * * * * *
Director: Martin Ritt; Producer:
Martin Ritt; Writer: Guy Trosper
(based on the novel by John Le Carre), Paul Dehn; Editor: Anthony Harvey; Musical Composer: Sol Kaplan; Production Designer: Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen; Art Director: Edward Marshall; Cinematographer: Oswald Morris; Country of Origin:
WITH: Richard
Burton (Alec Leamas), Claire
Bloom (Nan Perry), Oskar Werner
(Fiedler), Peter Van Eyck (Hans-Dieter Mundt), Sam Wanamaker (Peters), George Voskovec (East German Defense Attorney), Rupert Davies
(Smiley), Cyril Cusack (Control), Michael Hordern (Ashe), Robert Hardy (Carlton), Bernard Lee (Patmore)
Other films by Martin Ritt: Stanley & Iris
(1990), Nuts (1987),
Murphy's Romance (1985), Cross Creek (1983), Back Roads (1981), Norma Rae (1979), Casey's Shadow
(1978), Front, The (1976), Conrack (1974), Pete 'n' Tillie (1972), Sounder (1972),
Great White Hope, The (1970), Molly Maguires, The (1970), Brotherhood, The
(1969), Hombre (1967), Spy Who Came In from the Cold, The (1965), Outrage, The (1964), Hud (1963), Hemingway's Adventures of
a Young Man (1962), Paris Blues (1961), 5 Branded Women (1960), Sound and the Fury, The (1959), Black Orchid, The (1958), Long, Hot Summer, The (1958), No Down Payment (1957), Edge of the City
(1957),
Academy Award Nomination:
Best Actor - Richard Burton
Best Art Direction-Set
Decoration (B/W) - Hal Pereira, Tambi Larsen, Edward Marshall, Josie MacAvin
From CINEBOOKS
DB: Gripping grit, with a perfect
performance from
Spying is a grim, desperate business that is at once boring and
exciting, with dirty work behind the scenes and hardly any derring-do. This
superb adaptation of John Le Carre's novel artfully conveys that sense.
Audiences must have preferred the more glamorous spies like James Bond because
this film, which was one of the best ever made on the subject, failed to gather
much interest at the box office. Produced and directed by Martin Ritt in
Ireland and England, with some second-unit lensing in Europe, the film stars
Richard Burton as a burnt-out case, a man who is looking forward to getting out
of the spy game and retiring from British Intelligence. Just before he is to
leave,
There are no gimmicks, no fast cars that turn into airplanes, no weapons
that fire lasers, just a tense battle of wits shot in stark black and white.
The title refers to the time when an outside spy has to "come in from the
cold" and take a sedentary job as another spy's control or even some
menial desk assignment until the mandatory age limit forces retirement. Only
Graham Greene has come close to Le Carre in detailing the emotional drudgery of
the espionage world.
TOM'S VIEW: It's not Bourne in terms of action, but the
atmosphere and emotional content makes up for that. Was it really such a
Cold War? Entertaining!
THE LADY EVE (1941) * * * * * *
Director: Preston Sturges; Producer: Paul Jones; Writer:
Preston Sturges (based on the story "The Faithful Heart" by Monckton
Hoffe); Editor: Stuart Gilmore; Music
Director: Sigmund Krumgold; Art
Director: Ernst Fegte, Hans Dreier; Cinematographer: Victor Milner; Country of Origin:
WITH: Barbara Stanwyck (Jean Harrington), Henry Fonda (Charles Pike), Charles Coburn ("Colonel" Harry Harrington), Eugene
Pallette (Mr. Pike), William
Demarest (Muggsy-Ambrose
Murgatroyd), Eric Blore (Sir
Alfred McGlennan Keith), Melville Cooper (Gerald), Martha O'Driscoll (Martha), Janet Beecher (Mrs. Pike), Robert Greig (Burrows), Dora Clement
(Gertrude)
Other films by Preston Sturges: French, They Are a Funny Race, The (Carnets du
Major Thompson, Les) (1955), Vendetta (1950), Beautiful
Blonde from Bashful Bend, The (1949), Unfaithfully Yours (1948), Sin of Harold
Diddlebock, The (1947), Great Moment, The (1944), Hail the Conquering Hero
(1944), Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The (1944), Palm Beach Story, The (1942), Sullivan's Travels (1941), Lady Eve,
The (1941), Christmas in July (1940), Great McGinty, The (1940)
From CINEBOOKS DB: Sturges's chic, sly little masterpiece of comic seduction. Fonda, who is
the son of a wealthy brewer (Pallette, whose slogan is "Pike's Pale, the
Ale That Won for Yale"), is a rather shy and backward young man whose main
interest is in snakes. As the film opens, he has just spent a year with a
scientific expedition on the Amazon, looking for undiscovered species of reptiles.
He and his bodyguard, Demarest, board a ship in the Atlantic which will take
them back to New York. Of course, Fonda, being young, handsome, and the heir to
a vast fortune, attracts the attention of virtually every female on the ship,
but he shows no interest in the opposite sex.
Also on board is a team of card
sharps, father and daughter Stanwyck and Coburn, and Cooper, posing as their
butler. They figure Fonda would make an excellent pigeon, and Stanwyck
conspires to gain his trust, which she does. Fonda is quickly smitten with her,
and sits down to play some cards with her and her father. He considers himself
to be quite the card player, but is embarrassed when he wins $600 from these
nice people. Of course, he's only being set up to lose, but before the cons can
reel in their prey, they hit a snag. Stanwyck has genuinely fallen in love with
the man, much to the disgust of her associates.
THE LADY EVE is one of Sturges' best romantic comedies, with just the right blend of
satire and slapstick, the laughs coming mostly from his clever, often inspired
comedic lines. His direction is flawless, and the cast, from stars to stock
players, performs beautifully. Stanwyck, is particular, is an effortless
comedienne. She pitches much of her performance into a kind of hushed, urgent,
intimate whisper. When she talks to Fonda, she's constantly toying with him,
touching him like a fetish, and she's always in his face, often looking at his
lips. Then out snakes a sexy leg--a very sexy leg--and over he topples. There's
an unparalleled moment early on, when she narrates his movements, taking his
part and every woman's who attempts to trap him in conversation, while watching
the action backwards in her compact mirror. It's a daring, roguish display of
her talent; one can't imagine any comedienne--even Colbert or Russell--bringing
it off as she does. Sturges, who began as a contract scriptwriter for
Paramount, promised Stanwyck that he would write a great comedy for her some
day, and she got it.
TOM'S VIEW: Henry Fonda as straight man for Barbara Stanwyck - two very much
under-rated actors! Highly recommended
RUSHMORE (1998) * * * * *
Director:
Wes Anderson; Producer: Paul Schiff, Barry Mendel; Writer: Owen Wilson, Wes
Anderson; Editor: David Moritz; Musical Composer: Mark Mothersbaugh; Production
Designer: David Wasco; Art Director: Andrew Laws; Cinematographer: Robert
Yeoman; Country of Origin: U.S.; Color; Production Co(s).: American Empirical;
Touchstone Pictures; Released By: Buena Vista; MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 95
minutes
WITH: Bill
Murray (Mr. Blume), Olivia Williams (Miss Cross), Jason Schwartzman (Max
Fischer), Brian Cox (Dr. Guggenheim), Seymour Cassel (Bert Fischer), Mason
Gamble (Dirk Calloway), Sara Tanaka (Margaret Yang), Stephen McCole (Magnus
Buchan), Luke Wilson (Dr. Peter Flynn), Deepak Pallana (Mr. Adams), Andrew
Wilson (Coach Beck), Marietta Marich (Mrs. Guggenheim), Ronnie McCawley (Ronny
Blume), Keith McCawley (Donny Blume)
Other
films by Wes Anderson: Royal
Tenenbaums, The (2001), Rushmore (1998), Bottle Rocket (1996), Bottle Rocket
(1994)
From CINEBOOKS DB: Another quirky, hard-to-put-your-finger-on
delight from the boys who brought us BOTTLE
ROCKET. Geeky 15-year-old Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) has cornered the
market on extracurricular activities at snooty Rushmore Academy, though he's
flunking out academically. And he's got a crush on first-grade teacher Miss
Cross (Olivia Williams), whom he pursues with predictable relentlessness. The
consummate multi-tasker, Max embraces, ingests, condescends, comprehends and
fails to comprehend with incredible ardor. Yet despite the scattered, frantic
quality to Max's pursuit of everything -- courting Miss Cross; writing plays
based on seminal '70s films like SERPICO,
THE DEERHUNTER and APOCALYPSE NOW; engaging in endless
activities, from kite-flying to chess club -- he's irresistible. He hasn't
lived through his first heartbreak, hasn't suffered adult disappointment and
doesn't know the meaning of passivity: He's bursting with a deep enthusiasm for
life. Max schemes to impress Miss Cross by building her an elaborate aquarium,
but he needs steel tycoon/school patron Mr. Blume (Bill Murray) to pay for it.
Blume, tired of his family, his job and life itself, needs someone like Max around
and lets the youngster go to town. And Max happily plans activities that bring
together his two favorite people, never dreaming that Cross and Blume will
begin a relationship. Without being slavish, Owen Wilson and director Wes
Anderson's subtle and witty script echoes the themes (and sometimes the look)
of Hal Ashby's best films, including HAROLD
AND MAUDE and BEING THERE. And
Anderson's mise en scene -- heavy on the '70s influences and bolstered
by the combination of Mark Mothersbaugh's excellent score and the British
Invasion soundtrack -- captures the wistful nature of Max's teenage tumult and
outsider's ebullience. A rare comedy that keeps you thinking long after its
plot machinations have played themselves out, this film is the product of
artists working at the peak of their powers: Let's hope they keep it up.
Sandra Contreras
TOM'S VIEW: Wes Anderson may be an acquired
taste. If you liked Bottle Rocket
or The Royal Tenebaums then
you'll like this.
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS (1999) * * * *
* *
Director:
Anthony Harvey; Producer: John Foreman, Paul Newman
(uncredited); Writer: James Goldman (based on his play); Editor: Jerry
Greenberg; Musical Composer:
John Barry; Production Designer:
John Robert Lloyd; Cinematographer:
Victor J. Kemper; Country of Origin: U.S.; Color; Production Co(s).: Universal; Released By: Universal; MPAA Rating: G; Running Time: 91 minutes
WITH:
George C. Scott (Justin Playfair/Sherlock Holmes), Jack Gilford (Wilbur
Peabody), Lester Rawlins (Blevins Playfair), Rue McClanahan (Daisy), Ron Weyand
(Dr. Strauss), Kitty Winn (Grace), Peter Fredericks(Her Boy Friend), Sudie Bond
(Maud), Jenny Egan (Miss Finch), Theresa Merritt (Peggy)
Other films by Anthony Harvey: This Can't Be Love
(1994) (TV), Grace Quigley
(1984), Svengali (1983) (TV), Patricia Neal Story, The (1981) (TV), Richard's
Things (1980), Eagle's Wing (1979), Players (1979), Disappearance of Aimee, The
(1976) (TV), Abdication, The (1974), Glass
Menagerie, The (1973) (TV),
They Might Be Giants (1971), Lion
in Winter, The (1968), Dutchman (1966)
From CINEBOOKS DB: A strange movie that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be.
Sentimental, biting, satirical, whimsical, and self-righteous, it begins with a
romp at high speed, then goes straight into a hole from which it never emerges.
Scott is an aging, recently widowed judge who has gone off the deep end. He
believes that he is Sherlock Holmes, so he dresses, speaks, and comports
himself like Doyle's famed detective. His brother is Rawlins, a cad who is
being blackmailed and would like to see Scott placed in an institution so he
can get his hands on the money in Scott's estate. Scott is taken to a clinic
and meets Woodward, whose name just happens to be "Watson." When
Scott uses Holmesian logic to correctly assess the problems of one of her
patients, she is impressed. Clark is a short, fat man who thinks he is Rudolph
Valentino but is unable to speak. Scott reckons that Clark won't talk because
Valentino was, after all, a star of silent pictures. Clark is thrilled
that someone understands, and as he leaves, Scott tells him to pass on regards
to Vilma Banky. Woodward plays along with Scott, aiding him in his
"work" just as her fictional namesake helped Sherlock. Scott's
brother has left a blackmail note lying around which mentions "twenty
grand," and Scott feels that it's a clue which will help him trap his
long-time enemy, the heinous Professor Moriarty. He takes the note literally,
and he and Woodward go downtown to No. 20 Grand Street. That begins a chase that
is missing only the wild geese. They travel through Manhattan, visit an aged
couple (Miner and Fuller) who have not come out of their home since before WW
II, sneak into a telephone company switchboard office, visit a library and meet
Gilford, an aged keeper of the books who dreams of being "The Scarlet
Pimpernel," then on to a movie house on 42nd Street, where Scott engages
in conversation with the flotsam who make the theater their home. Rawlins'
blackmailer tracks Scott all the while, hoping to get enough on him to have him
committed once and for all. Scott keeps telling Woodward that he can darn near
smell Moriarty and that they are getting closer. While Woodward makes dinner
for Scott at her place, shots ring out and Scott is nearly killed. Late in the
movie Scott and Woodward are joined by all the nuts they've met earlier, and
they form a hardy band. It seems that the whole group shares a paranoia, and
each has another identity. They all march into a huge supermarket, and Scott
takes the manager's microphone and announces outlandish prices on items,
setting off a chaotic scene. By this time, instead of curing Scott, Woodward
has entered into Scott's world and is just as crazy as he is. The two stand in
Central Park at night and walk toward a tunnel. They hear the clop of horses'
hooves in the tunnel, and Scott is convinced that Moriarty approaches, but
before anything is completed, the screen fades to white and this ponderous
statement appears: "the human heart can see what is hidden to the eyes,
and the heart knows things that the mind does not begin to understand."
TOM'S VIEW: One of my favorite little know
gems! George C Scott is absolutely great in comedy (remember him in Dr. Strangelove?) Despite the CINEBOOKS review, highly recommended!
THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING (1975) * *
* * * *
Director:
John Huston; Producer: John Foreman; Writer: Gladys Hill (based on the story by
Rudyard Kipling), John Huston; Editor: Russell Lloyd; Musical Composer: Maurice
Jarre; Production Designer: Alexander Trauner; Art Director: Tony Inglis;
Cinematographer: Oswald Morris; Country of Origin: U.K.; Color; Production
Co(s).: Allied Artists; MPAA Rating: PG; Running Time: 129 minutes
WITH: Sean
Connery (Daniel Dravot), Michael Caine (Peachy Carnehan), Christopher Plummer
(Rudyard Kipling), Saeed Jaffrey (Billy Fish), Karroum Ben Bouih (Kafu-Selim),
Jack May (District Commissioner), Doghmi Larbi (Ootah), Shakira Caine
(Roxanne), Mohammed Shamsi (Babu)
Academy Award Nomination:
Best Adapted Screenplay - John Huston, Gladys
Hill
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration -
Alexander Trauner, Tony Inglis, Peter James
Best Costume Design - Edith Head
Best Film Editing - Russell Lloyd
Other
films by John Huston: Dead, The (1987), Prizzi's
Honor (1985), Under the Volcano (1984), Annie (1982), Victory
(1981), Phobia (1980), Wise Blood (1979), Love and Bullets (1979) (uncredited),
Independence (1976), Man Who Would Be
King, The (1975),
Mackintosh Man, The (1973), Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, The
(1972), Fat City (1972), Last Run, The (1971) (uncredited), Kremlin Letter, The (1970), Walk with Love
and Death, A (1969), Sinful Davey (1969), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967),
Casino Royale (1967), Bible, The
(Bibbia, La) (1966), Night of the
Iguana, The (1964), List of Adrian Messenger, The (1963), Freud
(1962), Misfits, The
(1961), Unforgiven, The (1960), Roots of Heaven, The (1958), Barbarian and the Geisha, The (1958),
Farewell to Arms, A (1957) (uncredited), Heaven
Knows, Mr. Allison (1957),
Moby Dick (1956),
Beat the Devil (1953),
Moulin Rouge (1952), African Queen, The
(1951), Red Badge of Courage, The
(1951), Asphalt Jungle, The (1950), We Were Strangers (1949), Key Largo (1948), Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The
(1948), Let There Be Light (1946), San Pietro
(1945) (uncredited), Tunisian Victory (1944) (replacement scenes), Report from the Aleutians (1943)
(uncredited), Across the Pacific
(1942), In This Our Life (1942), Maltese
Falcon, The (1941)
From CINEBOOKS DB: This was writer-director John Huston's dream
project for decades. He originally wanted to film the Rudyard Kipling short
story in the 1940s with Clark Gable and Humphrey Bogart. Later he envisioned
Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole. However the long wait paid off: Michael
Caine, Sean Connery, and Christopher Plummer deliver outstanding performances
in a classic adventure that delivers thrills even as it meditates on issues of
power and imperialism.
Kipling
(Plummer) is working in his office in Lahore, India when an aged beggar enters
and begins to spin an amazing tale that fascinates the writer. We flashback to
Kipling's office many years earlier when a young, vibrant, if somewhat boorish
Peachy Carnehan (Caine) and his dashing friend Daniel Dravot (Connery) ask the
writer to witness some "official" document. Stationed in India, these
British army officers have been supplementing their salaries with various
scams. Down on their luck after squandering their money on vice, they have
concocted a new scheme: they will sojourn into the hills of Kafiristan (a
province in eastern Afghanistan now called Nuristan) where they will set
themselves up as rulers. Intrigued by these brazen soldiers-of-fortune, Kipling
secures them an appointment with the District Commissioner (May). However the
official sees their true colors and sends them packing. Dravot and Carnehan
endure assorted hardships as they trek through the storied Khyber Pass, and
although Dravot gets mistaken for a god at one point, things don't quite work
out as planned.
This is a
grand adventure tale that does not stint on characterization. Connery and Caine
join the ranks of Huston's classic overachievers, most notably Bogart's Fred C.
Dobbs in THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE.
Caine may have gone a wee bit over-the-top but that helped the audience
distinguish between the the natures of the two men. The film was shot on
location in Morocco because of the costs and dangers of working in Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, the score by the celebrated Jarre (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA) failed to match the evocative power of the
setting. However these are minor flaws in a delightful and memorable film.
TOM'S VIEW: Connery and Caine in their prime in a
Rudyard Kipling tale directed by John Huston. Need I say more?
Highly recommended
ENTER THE DRAGON (1973) * * * * *
Director:
Robert Clouse; Producer: Jerry Weintraub, Paul M. Heller, Raymond Chow; Writer:
Michael Allin; Editor: George Watters, Kurt Hirschler; Musical Composer: Lalo
Schifrin; Art Director: James Wong Sun; Stunts: Bruce Lee (fights); Cinematographer:
Gilbert Hubbs; Country of Origin: U.S.; B & W; Production Co(s).: Concord
Productions Inc.; Warner Bros.; Released By: Warner Bros.; MPAA Rating: R;
Running Time: 99 minutes
WITH:
Bruce Lee (Lee), John Saxon (Roper), Jim Kelly (Williams), Shih Kien (Han), Bob
Wall (OHara), Anna Capri (Tania), Angela Mao Ying (Su Lin), Betty Chung (Mei
Ling), Geoffrey Weeks (Braithwaite), Bolo Yeung (Bolo), Peter Archer (Parsons),
Ho Lee Wan (Old Man), Marlene Clark (Secretary)
Other
films by Robert Clouse: Ironheart (1992), China O'Brien II (1991), China
O'Brien (1990), Gymkata (1985), Master Ninja I (1984), Deadly Eyes (1982),
Force: Five (1981), Big Brawl, The (1980),
London Connection, The (1979), Game of Death (1978), Pack, The (1977),
Amsterdam Kill, The (1977), Ultimate
Warrior, The (1975), Black Belt Jones (1974), Golden Needles (1974), Enter the Dragon (1973), Dreams of
Glass (1970), Darker Than Amber (1970), Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes, The
(1964), Cadillac, The (1962)
From CINEBOOKS DB: If you have a yen for
spectacular chopsocky action, this is as good a flick to start with as any. The
legendary Bruce Lee is showcased in his most lavish adventure--though, as this
was made in Hong Kong after all, it still feels like a low-rent James Bond
thriller crossed with Fu Manchu.
The plot
barely rates relating but here goes: Lee (Bruce Lee) is recruited by a
government agent, Braithwaite (Weeks), to enter a martial arts contest on the
island fortress of Han (Shih), a particularly vicious chap with a nasty iron
claw who is believed to be involved in drug smuggling and prostitution. Lee
agrees because he knows that Han's right-hand man, Oharra (Wall), is
responsible for his sister's death (she committed suicide rather than be raped
by him).
On the
island he meets Roper (Saxon) and Williams (Kelly), ex-army buddies from the
US, on the run, respectively, from the mob and the law. Lee tries to infiltrate
Han's underground chamber but fails, beating up a number of guards in the
process. The next morning Han orders the men who let the intruder escape to
fight Bolo (Sze), who kills them all easily. But enough plot... let it suffice
to say that the only compelling reason to sit through this film is to see the
greatest martial arts star of all time.
Lee proves
why he is still the dominant legend in the genre more than a decade after his
death. During one fight scene, Lee
performed a flying kick so fast it couldn't be captured on film at 24 frames a
second. The cameraman had to film the sequence in slow motion to get it to look
like it wasn't faked. Nobody shows much evidence of acting
ability, and the script is full of holes. Nonstop action is what these films
are about, and that's what you get here.
TOM'S VIEW: A cult classic. If you liked the kung fu action in Kill Bill then you must see one of the
original masters.
HUMAN NATURE (2001) * * * * *
Director: Michel Gondry; Producer:
Spike Jonze, Ted Hope, Anthony Bregman, Charlie Kaufman; Writer: Charlie Kaufman; Editor: Russel Icke; Musical Composer: Graeme Revell; Production Designer: K.K. Barrett; Art Director: Peter Andrus; Cinematographer: Tim Maurice Jones; Country of Origin: U.S.; Color; Production Co(s).: Beverly Detroit;
Good Machine Productions; Partizan; Studio Canal +; Released By: Fine Line Features; MPAA Rating: R; Running
Time: 96 minutes
WITH : Tim Robbins (Nathan
Bronfman), Patricia Arquette (Lila
Jute), Rhys Ifans (Puff),
Miranda Otto (Gabrielle), Rosie
Perez (Louise), Robert Forster
(Nathan's Father), Mary Kay Place
(Nathan's Mother), Ken Magee (Police Detective), Sy Richardson (Police Detective), David Warsohofsky (Police Detective), Hilary Duff (Young Lila), Stanley Desantis (Doctor), Peter Dinklage (Frank)
Other films by Michel Gondry: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), I've Been Twelve
Forever (2003) (V), Pecan Pie (2003), Work of Director Michel Gondry, The
(2003) (V), Chemical Brothers: Singles
93-03, The (2003) (V), Massive Attack: Eleven Promos (2001) (V), One Day...
(2001), Human Nature (2001), Clip
Cult Vol. 1: Exploding Cinema (1999) (video "Sugar Water"), Bj๖rk: Volumen (1998) (V) (videos "Human
Behaviour", "Army of Me", "Isobel",
"Hyperballad", "J๓ga", "Bachelorette"), Letter, The (Lettre, La) (1998), Vingt
p'tites tours (1989)
From CINEBOOKS DB: A fabulous
furry nature writer, a repressed behavioral scientist, an adult wild child and
a beautiful schemer comprise a bizarre romantic quadrangle in this strenuously
quirky comedy about civilization, basic instincts and the games lovers play.
Taunted because of her hirsutism (think JoJo the dog-faced boy), 12-year-old
Lila Jute retreated into the woods and filled her hours by recording her
thoughts. The adult Lila's (Patricia Arquette) scribbling eventually makes her
a best-selling author (popular with those who prefer nature at second hand) and
she decides to reenter the domesticated world, driven by a hunger for the
company of men. A little rusty in the dating skills department, Lila allows her
electrologist, Louise (Rosie Perez) a hairy girl's best friend is always
her electrologist to fix her up with emotionally crippled behaviorist Nathan
Bronfman (Tim Robbins), who's dedicated his career to teaching lab mice to eat
with forks. Tormented by genital underendowment and a childhood defined by
harsh lessons about appropriate cutlery, Nathan has never noticed the
come-hither looks cast his way by comely French lab assistant Gabrielle
(Miranda Otto) and takes to the carefully shaved Lila with the heedless fervor
of the pathologically insecure. While on a nature hike, the couple discovers a
feral fellow (Rhys Ifans) he was raised by a loony father who thought himself
an ape and Nathan resolves to transform this naked, grunting, filthy brute
into the epitome of a gentleman. Diapered, caged, wired with electrodes and dubbed
Puff (because Gabrielle once "'ad a sweet leetle mongrel doggie named
Puff"), the ape-man's transformation begins. That the great experiment
ends badly is a given: The story is told in a series of flashbacks, and of the
three narrators, Puff is addressing a government committee, Lila is in a
prison-issue jumpsuit and Nathan is seated in an all-white room, a small hole
leaking blood onto his pale forehead. Written by Charlie Kaufman (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH), this superficially
surreal film is in fact a surprisingly straightforward fable. Director Michel
Gondry is known for his music videos for Bj๖rk and others, and his trademark
whimsical style is evident in sequences like Lila's musical interlude in an
artificial woodland set. But overall the film feels forced and awkward, as
though it's trying too hard to be weird, culty and profound: Nathan's
prescription for civilized behavior "When in doubt, don't ever do
what you really want to do" is among the more subtle bits of dialogue.
Maitland McDonagh
TOM'S VIEW: Gondry and Kayfman's first joint effort. Just as off the
wall as Being John Malkovich.
Recommended.
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935) * * * *
*
Director:
Frank Lloyd; Producer: Irving Thalberg;
Writer: Jules Furthman, Talbot Jennings, Carey Wilson (based on the novels Mutiny
On The Bounty and Men Against the Sea by Charles Nordhoff, James
Norman Hall); Editor: Margaret Booth; Musical Composer: Herbert Stothart; Art Director: Cedric Gibbons, Arnold Gillespie; Cinematographer:
Arthur Edeson; Country of
Origin: U.S.; B & W; Production Co(s).: MGM; Released By: MGM; MPAA Rating: NR; Running Time: 132 minutes
WITH:
Charles Laughton (Capt. William Bligh), Clark
Gable (1st Mate Fletcher
Christian), Franchot Tone (Roger
Byam), Herbert Mundin (Smith), Eddie
Quillan (Ellison), Dudley Digges
(Bacchus), Donald Crisp (Burkitt), Henry Stephenson (Sir Joseph Banks), Francis Lister (Capt. Nelson), Spring Byington (Mrs. Byam)
Academy Award:
Best Picture
Academy Award Nomination:
Best Actor - Charles Laughton
Best Actor - Clark Gable
Best Actor - Franchot Tone
Best Director - Frank Lloyd
Best Film Editing - Margaret Booth
Best Score - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Music Department, Nat W. Finston (Dept.
Head)
Best Screenplay - Jules Furthman, Talbot Jennings, Carey Wilson
Other films by Frank Lloyd: Last Command, The (1955),
Shanghai Story, The (1954), Last Bomb, The (1945), Blood on the Sun (1945), Air
Pattern - Pacific (1944), Forever and a Day (1943), Lady from Cheyenne, The
(1941), This Woman Is Mine (1941), Howards of Virginia, The (1940), Rulers of the Sea (1939), If I Were King (1938), Wells Fargo
(1937), Maid of Salem (1937), Under Two Flags (1936), Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), Servants'
Entrance (1934), Hoopla (1933), Berkeley Square (1933), Cavalcade (1933),
Passport to Hell, A (1932), Age for Love, The (1931), Right of Way, The (1931),
East Lynne (1931), Lash, The (1930), Way of All Men, The (1930), Son of the
Gods (1930), Young
Nowheres (1929), Dark Streets (1929), Drag (1929), Divine Lady, The
(1929), Weary River (1929), Adoration
(1928), Children of Divorce (1927),
Eagle of the Sea, The (1926), Wise
Guy, The (1926), Splendid Road, The (1925), Winds of Chance (1925), Her
Husband's Secret (1925), Black Oxen (1924),
Silent Watcher, The (1924), Sea Hawk, The (1924), Ashes of Vengeance (1923),
Within the Law (1923), Voice from the Minaret, The (1923), Sin Flood, The
(1922), Oliver Twist (1922), Eternal Flame, The (1922), Roads of Destiny
(1921), Man From Lost River, The (1921),
Grim Comedian, The (1921), Invisible Power, The (1921), Voice in the
Dark, A (1921), Tale of Two Worlds, A (1921), Great Lover, The (1920), Woman in
Room 13, The (1920), Madame X (1920),
Silver Horde, The (1920), Loves
of Letty, The (1919), World and Its Woman, The (1919), Pitfalls of a Big City (1919), Man Hunter,
The (1919), Untitled Liberty Loan Film, An (1918), For Freedom (1918), Rainbow Trail, The (1918),
Riders of the Purple Sage (1918), True
Blue (1918), Blindness of Divorce, The (1918), Kingdom of Love, The (1917),
Heart of a Lion, The (1917), Mis้rables, Les (1917), When a Man Sees Red
(1917), Making of Maddalena, The (1917),
American Methods (1917), Tale of Two Cities, A (1917), Price of Silence,
The (1917), Sins of Her Parent (1916), Intrigue, The (1916), Stronger Love, The
(1916), International Marriage, An
(1916), David Garrick (1916), Code of
Marcia Gray, The (1916), Madame la
Presidente (1916), Call of the Cumberlands, The (1916), Tongues of Men, The
(1916), 10,000 Dollars (1915), Dr. Mason's Temptation (1915), Eleven to One
(1915), Fate's Alibi (1915), From the Shadows (1915), His Captive (1915), His Last Serenade (1915),
His Last Trick (1915), His Superior's Honor (1915), In the Grasp of the Law
(1915), Life's Furrow (1915), Little Girl of the Attic, The (1915), Little Mr. Fixer (1915), Martin Lowe, Fixer
(1915), Nature's Triumph (1915), Paternal Love (1915), Prophet of the Hills,
The (1915), Toll of the Youth, The (1915), To Redeem an Oath (1915), To Redeem
a Value (1915), Trickery (1915), When the Spider Tore Loose (1915), Reform Candidate, The (1915), Jane (1915),
Gentleman from Indiana, The (1915),
Double Deal in Pork, A (1915), Source of Happiness, The (1915), According to Value (1915), Billie's Baby
(1915), Their Golden Wedding (1915), $100,000 (1915), Cure of the Mountains,
The (1915), Pinch, The (1915), Bay of
Seven Isles, The (1915), Arrangement
with Fate, An (1915), Wolves of Society (1915), Temptation of Edwin Shayne, The
(1915), Pawns of Fate (1915), Page from
Life, A (1914), Traffic in Babies
(1914), Chorus Girl's Thanksgiving, The (1914),
Link That Binds, The (1914), Vagabond, The (1914), As the Wind Blows
(1914), Prince of Bavaria, A (1914),
Mexican's Last Raid (1914)
From CINEBOOKS DB: A bounty
for viewers. Few adventures can approach MUTINY
ON THE BOUNTY for its action-filled dramatization of good vs. evil. 1935's
top grosser, the film confirmed Gable as Hollywood's biggest male star and gave
Laughton the most famous role of his career. The film's basis in fact only adds
sweep to this bracing saga of a 1788 ship mutiny.
The film opens as the Bounty gracefully sets sail from Portsmouth,
England to Tahiti to gather breadfruit trees. Shipboard life, though, soon hits
rough seas as conflicts arise between the vicious, bullying Capt. Bligh
(Laughton) and his courageous first mate, Fletcher Christian (Gable), with
idealistic midshipman Roger Byam (Tone) caught in the middle. The stay in
Tahiti proves to be a momentary respite, even though Bligh seethes over
Christian's romance with the island chief's daughter (Movita Castaneda). On the
homeward voyage, Bligh becomes even more barbaric, and it's only a matter of
time before Christian takes action.
Expertly crafted and brilliantly acted, MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY is one of the most durable and engrossing
adventure films ever made. For the first and only time in motion-picture
history, three actors from the same film--Gable, Laughton, and Tone--were
nominated for Oscars in the Best Actor division. Lloyd's rich direction
captures the exotic South Sea island of Tahiti and the rigors of the
hardscrabble voyage and gives the cast its full head (Digges is especially
good). Gable, in splendid form, was originally afraid of wearing breeches and a
small ponytail, and he also thought his American accent would stand out too
much. (If anything, it works by contributing to a certain xenophobia in his
struggles against the unhandsome and genuinely British Laughton.) His Christian
is full of integrity and courage, and is even surprisingly tender in the oddly
bisexual edge of the film's Tahiti scenes. The superb Laughton, meanwhile,
relishing his self-righteous villainy, gave impersonators a lifetime of work
uttering "Mr. Christian, come here!". Tone, an underrated actor, is
also sturdy, and gets to strut his stuff in the courtroom finale. Although the
production of the film was dogged by backstage sniping, scripting problems,
expensive location footage ruined by tropical humidity, and the loss of $50K
worth of equipment, you'd never know it to look at the result.
The film was remade under the same title in 1962. Trevor Howard was a
compelling Bligh, but Marlon Brando's weird attempt to turn Christian into an
effeminate fop could have made the film a camp classic if only he weren't so
serious about it. As it is, his grand experiment entirely sabotages the film.
1984, meanwhile, brought us THE BOUNTY.
Anthony Hopkins aimed for a more complex Bligh, but Mel Gibson was extremely
bland and the undertaking entirely lacked the epic scope that made the 1935
version so bracing.
TOM'S VIEW: The original, the film that set the
stereotypes for Bligh and Christian. Quite a feat for a 1935 film.
Highly recommended.
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1962) * * * *
Director: Lewis Milestone: Producer: Aaron Rosenberg; Writer:
Charles Lederer (uncredited: Eric Ambler, William L. Driscoll, Borden Chase,
John Gay, Ben Hecht. Based on the novel by Charles Nordhoff, James Norman
Hall): Editor: John McSweeney Jr.; Musical Composer: Bronislau Kaper; Art Director: Joseph MacMillan Johnson, George W. Davis; Cinematographer:
Robert Surtees; Country of
Origin: U.S.; Color; Production
Co(s).: Arcola; Released By:
MGM; MPAA Rating: NR; Running Time: 179 minutes
WITH: Marlon Brando (Fletcher Christian), Trevor Howard (Capt. William Bligh), Richard Harris (John Mills), Hugh Griffith (Alexander Smith), Richard Haydn (William Brown), Tarita (Maimiti),
Tim Seely (Edward Young), Percy
Herbert (Matthew Quintal),
Gordon Jackson (Edward Birkett),
Noel Purcell (William McCoy),
Duncan Lamont (John Williams),
Chips Rafferty (Michael Byrne),
Ashley Cowan (Samuel Mack),
Eddie Byrne (John Fryer)
Academy Award Nomination:
Best Picture
Best Special Effects - A.
Arnold Gillespie (Visual), Milo Lory (Audible)
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration - George
W. Davis (Art Direction), Joseph McMillan Johnson (Art Direction), Henry Grace (Set Decoration),
Hugh Hunt (Set Decoration)
Best Color Cinematography -
Robert L Surtees
Best Film Editing - John McSweeney,
Jr.
Best Original Score -
Bronislau Kaper (Music)
Best Song - "Love Song
from Mutiny on the Bounty"; Bronislau Kaper (Song), Paul Francis Webster
(Lyrics)
Other films by Lewis Milestone: "Arrest
and Trial" (1963) (TV Series), Mutiny on the
Bounty (1962), Ocean's Eleven (1960), Pork Chop Hill (1959), "Have Gun - Will Travel"
(1957) (TV Series), Widow, The (Vedova X, La) (1954), They Who Dare (1953), Melba (1953),
Miserables, Les (1952), Kangaroo (1952), Halls of Montezuma (1951), Red Pony, The (1949), No Minor Vices (1948), Arch of Triumph (1948), Strange Love of Martha
Ivers, The (1946), Walk in the Sun, A (1945), Guest in the House (1944)
(uncredited), Purple Heart, The (1944), North Star, The (1943), Edge of
Darkness (1943), Know for Sure (1941) (uncredited), My Life with Caroline
(1941), Lucky Partners (1940), Of Mice
and Men (1939),
Night of Nights, The (1939), General Died at Dawn, The (1936), Anything Goes (1936), Paris in Spring (1935),
Captain Hates the Sea, The (1934), Hallelujah
I'm a Bum (1933), Rain (1932), Front Page, The (1931), All Quiet on the Western
Front (1930), New York Nights (1929), Betrayal (1929), Racket, The (1928), Tempest (1928)(uncredited), Garden of Eden, The (1928), Two Arabian
Knights (1927), Kid Brother, The (1927) (uncredited), Fine Manners (1926) (uncredited), New
Klondike, The (1926), Caveman, The (1926), Seven Sinners (1925), Fit to Win
(1919), Positive (1918), Posture (1918), Toothbrush, The (1918)
From CINEBOOKS DB: The old
Hollywood credo of "if a film's a hit once it'll be a hit again" does
not work here (and rarely does, but try to tell that to most road-rutted
producers). Though the production values are excellent, the story, the acting,
and the editing of this colossal and expensive remake all fall miserably short
of Frank Lloyd's 1935 film classic. Again viewers can sail with the Bounty
to Tahiti and watch Howard as Bligh beat and mistreat his crew members for
14,000 miles, while Brando hides out in his cabin trying on new uniforms replete
with frills, lace, and immaculate knee-high stockings. The ship docks at the
island paradise, and crew members gather breadfruit and sexually promiscuous
native girls. Then it's back to civilization and more torture at the hands of
Howard, with a mutiny thrown in to break up the tedium. Howard is set adrift,
and Brando takes the stolen ship to Pitcairn Island where mutineer Harris burns
it, against Brando's wishes, so that none of the crew can ever return to
England again. Brando, in a clumsy attempt to put out the fire on the sinking
ship, is fatally charred and dies with the flaming masts of the famous ship
burning behind the final credits.
Brando is simply awful as Fletcher Christian, playing this real-life
knuckle-breaker as a light-footed fop with no more concern for crew members
than he would have for a breadfruit-bearing Tahitian native. He lisps
ludicrously, sways obscenely, and postures like a female ingenue at a garden
party--he's dreadful, even repugnant, and wholly out of character. It's obvious
that director Milestone could not control Brando for a moment and that the
famous, sometimes brilliant actor directed himself. His is one of the most
impossible performances in screen history, infecting Harris, who plays a sort
of seagoing Iago and is equally hammy and unbelievable. Howard tries to bring
some sanity and reason to the part of Bligh and makes a mistake in doing so;
the real Bligh, as Charles Laughton so aptly played him in 1935, was a
psychopathic beast with no humanity whatsoever. This film version goes
historically beyond the Lloyd version, ending at Pitcairn Island but wrongly
showing the death of Christian, who lived for some time after the mutineers
settled on the island. The second film did not portray Midshipman Roger Byam
(enacted by Franchot Tone in 1935) and took many more liberties, mostly
nonsensical. Howard, for instance, does not confine Brando to the ship after
reaching Tahiti but actually orders him to go ashore and copiously copulate
with the chief's daughter to establish good relationships with the natives. The
mutiny in the 1962 version is almost a whim of Brando. Howard kicks a water
ladle out of his first mate's hand when Brando is about to give a sick crew
member a drink. This so incenses Brando that he instantly mutinies with others.
Though this version got seven Oscar nominations, it rightly received none. They
were for Best Picture (lost to LAWRENCE
OF ARABIA), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Song, Best Music
Score, Best Film Editing and Best Special Effects. Movita Castenada, who had
played Tone's native lover in the 1935 version, married Brando while he was
doing the 1962 remake, but they were later divorced. Brando, who cost an
estimated $6 million, later complained that "it was the worst experience of
my acting career." (He reportedly stuffed himself and put on 40 pounds in
the course of shooting.) Director Milestone said, "This picture should
have been called `The Mutiny of Marlon Brando,"' and Harris chimed in,
"The whole picture was just a large, dreadful nightmare to me." None
of these gentlemen, however, had the good grace to quit the production and save
MGM from near ruin, which almost came about when the studio only recouped
$9,800,000 in its initial release.
MY VIEW: How dare they try to remake a
classic! And what is Brando doing? Doesn't he know how Chistian is
SUPPOSED to be? A worthwhile effort and a different take on
the Bounty story.
THE BOUNTY (1984) * * * * * *
Director: Roger Donaldson; Producer: Bernard
Williams; Writer: Robert Bolt (based on
the novel Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian by Richard Hough); Editor:
Tony Lawson; Musical Composer:
Vangelis; Production Designer:
John Graysmark; Art Director:
Tony Reading; Cinematographer:
Arthur Ibbetson; Country of Origin: U.K.; Color ; Production Co(s).: Bounty; Released By: Orion; MPAA Rating: PG; Running Time: 132 minutes
WITH: Mel Gibson (Fletcher Christian), Anthony Hopkins (Lt. William Bligh), Laurence Olivier (Adm. Hood), Edward Fox (Capt.
Greetham), Daniel Day-Lewis (Fryer), Bernard Hill (Cole), Philip Davis (Young), Liam Neeson (Churchill), Wi Kuki Kaa (King Tynah), Tevaite Vernette (Mauatua), Philip Martin Brown (Adams), Simon Chandler (Nelson), Malcolm Terris (Dr. Huggan), Simon Adams (Heywood), John Sessions (Smith)
Other films by Roger Donaldson: Recruit,
The (2003), Thirteen Days (2000), Dante's Peak (1997), Species (1995), Getaway, The
(1994), White Sands (1992), Cadillac Man (1990), Cocktail (1988), No Way Out (1987), Marie (1985), Bounty, The (1984), Smash Palace (1981), Nutcase (1980), Sleeping
Dogs (1977)
From CINEBOOKS DB: This is at least the fourth film
version of the notorious mutiny of 1789, when sailors of the British Royal Navy
seized control of their ship, the Bounty, from Captain Bligh and set him and a
few loyal crewmen adrift in an open boat. The mutineers eventually stumbled
across the obscure Pitcairn Island where they built a settlement that was not
discovered for many years and remains inhabited to this day by the descendants
of those mutineers and their Polynesian mates. The film opens as Bligh (played
by Hopkins) appears before a naval board in London, chaired by Admiral Hood
(Olivier). As the story unrolls in flashback, Bligh and first mate Fletcher
Christian (Gibson) set off for the South Seas to bring back breadfruit. They
finally reach Tahiti after a long and harrowing voyage. Consequently the crew
is in no hurry to leave. Christian has fallen in love with a beautiful native
girl and offers no assistance in whipping the crew back into shape. Bligh grows
increasingly harsh in his attempts to restore discipline. This is the first
time that a reasonably balanced version of this story has reached the screen,
portraying Bligh as a competent sailor and commander whose personality flaws
make the conflict between him and his crew inevitable.
Anthony Hopkins gets to give his vocal cords a good workout
but the normally charismatic Gibson is surprisingly bland and wishy-washy. The
closeup-heavy direction seems haphazard and the film never achieves the epic
sweep it seems to desire. The script is condensed from David Lean collaborator
(screenwriter on LAWRENCE OF ARABIA,
DOCTOR ZHIZAGO, RYAN'S DAUGHTER) Robert Bolt's scripts for two aborted
mutiny-on-the-Bounty projects. The production design and values are excellent.
MY VIEW: I have to disagree with the CINEBOOKS reviews on the Mutiny films. I personally find
this Bounty to be the most
satisfying of the four made (A version made with Errol Flynn in 1933 is
routinely dismissed as not a very good film. The other three Clark Gable in
1935, Marlon Brando in 1962, and Mel Gibson in 1984 are all fine films.)
Bligh and Christain are played as human rather than the caricatures in the 35
and 62 versions. As humans they each have their faults and their admirable
traits. It is this internal struggle that each makes with his values and
society's expectations that is portrayed. I thought each actor did an
admirable job of showing us this. This is the best Bounty. Further, this film appears to be
the most historically accurate of the three. Highly recommended!
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COMING
ATTRACTIONS IN 2004
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Spiderman
2 - July
2nd http://spiderman.sonypictures.com/
King
Arthur - July
7th http://kingarthur.movies.go.com/main.html
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CURRENTLY
AND COMING TO THE FLICKS in Boise
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Currently:
Farenheit
9/11
The
Notebook
Napoleon
Dynamite
Young
Adam
The
Clearing
Coming:
The
Mother 7/30
Before
Sunset 7/30
Valentin
8/6
The
Door in the Floor 8/13
The
Return 8/20
Intimate
Strangers 8/20
Garden
State 8/27
Riding
Giants 8/27
Friendship
Village 8/31
Boise
Showtimes:
Regular
Theaters
Flicks
http://www.theflicksboise.com/
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PRIMARY
FILM LINKS
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Internet
Movie Database http://www.imdb.com/
Movie
Review Query Engine http://www.mrqe.com/
New York
Times Reviews http://www.nytimes.com/ref/movies/currentmovies.html
Roger
Ebert
http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebertser.html
Coming
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Foreign
Films
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Cinebooks
Database http://www.tvguide.com/movies/database/
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