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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)