English titles: The Awful Dr. Orloff; Cries in the Night.
Synopsis: A surgeon uses a blind assistant to kidnap young women so that he can use their skin on his daughter's burned face.
Appraisal: Mainly a rip-off of Les yeux sans visage (1960) but also The Dark Eyes of London (1940), and marginally a few others -- check this site out for a more thorough list of references. This film is not completely bad, although too talky and occasionally exploitative. It has some atmosphere though, and some shots are impressively eerie. The idea of a blind assistant for this kind of job is one of the most ludicrous I have ever come across. This is the kind of nonsense that should kill the horror yet strangely it does not. However, I really cannot assess this film with any accuracy since I could not grasp much of the dialogue -- it was dubbed in French and I am not a good French listener.
Rating: between 30 and 45
Sunday, December 31, 2006
The Usurer (1910)
Synopsis (with spoilers): A wealthy money-lender orders his collectors to foreclose on his debtors who fell behind on their paying duties. He then gets accidentally locked up in his own vault and dies. His sister then forgives all debts and returns the possessions that had been taken from debtors.
Appraisal: This is not the last time a capitalist gets an extremely contrived and horrific death in one of Griffith's films -- in Corner in Wheat a stock market speculator dies asfixiated in wheat flour. Griffith's ideological stance is invariably reactionary, which in his case means pre-capitalist; but in his films the villain is alway the middle-man, never the government or who really holds a power position. In "The Birth of a Nation" president Lincoln, who ordered the war, comes off unscathed, all the blame falling upon -- of all people -- the ambitious mulattoes. That way, he expresses his views without attacking popular leaders who stand for opposite ones. In Griffith's southerner view, land owners are always noble, good-hearted people; it never crosses his mind that, historically, professions like money-lenders appeared because some people -- mostly Jews I suppose -- could not possess land. Of course his idealized universe would be just one big farm, with happy Negro slaves and no need for money. Interestingly, by that time Marx's ideas were already widespread and criticized the same things that Griffith did -- only, instead of a return to a rural paradise, Marx preconized replacing capitalism with communism.
Appraisal: This is not the last time a capitalist gets an extremely contrived and horrific death in one of Griffith's films -- in Corner in Wheat a stock market speculator dies asfixiated in wheat flour. Griffith's ideological stance is invariably reactionary, which in his case means pre-capitalist; but in his films the villain is alway the middle-man, never the government or who really holds a power position. In "The Birth of a Nation" president Lincoln, who ordered the war, comes off unscathed, all the blame falling upon -- of all people -- the ambitious mulattoes. That way, he expresses his views without attacking popular leaders who stand for opposite ones. In Griffith's southerner view, land owners are always noble, good-hearted people; it never crosses his mind that, historically, professions like money-lenders appeared because some people -- mostly Jews I suppose -- could not possess land. Of course his idealized universe would be just one big farm, with happy Negro slaves and no need for money. Interestingly, by that time Marx's ideas were already widespread and criticized the same things that Griffith did -- only, instead of a return to a rural paradise, Marx preconized replacing capitalism with communism.
Big Daddy (1999/I)
Synopsis: A child is delivered at a bachelor's apartment while his roommate -- the kid's biological father -- is away on a trip.
Appraisal: This comedy oscillates between facile humor and contrived sentimentality. It has a few funny moments nevertheless.
Rating: 34
Appraisal: This comedy oscillates between facile humor and contrived sentimentality. It has a few funny moments nevertheless.
Rating: 34
The Adventures of Dollie (1908)
Synopsis (complete with spoilers): A little girl is strolling with her mother by a riverside when a gypsy peddler tries to sell them some wicker baskets. The mother is not interested, despite the insistence of the gypsy. He then decides to steal her money purse, but is cut short by the lady's husband who gives the gypsy a severe beating. Back in his wagon-home, the gypsy tells his misfortunes to his wife and comes up with the idea of kidnapping the little girl as a revenge. He then approaches her while she is left unwatched and snatches her; he then carries her back to his wagon-home and once there places her inside a barrel. When the girl's parents find her missing, they head straight to the gypsy's quarters and search the wagon but never look inside the barrel and thus miss the girl. Once they're gone the gypsies depart; during a river crossing, the barrel falls off the wagon with the little girl in it. It drifts right where some boys are fishing and is rescued by them; they open it and find the girl. Her parents are warned and rejoice with the news; they give the girl many hugs.
Appraisal: Entertaining short film, that thrives on the fear middle-class people felt of ethnic minorities in general and gypsies in particular. Even in a simple film like this, one can see some ingenious camera-work decisions, such as shooting from above during the gypsy's run with the child, thus easily showing his efforts not to be seen by another person on his path.
Appraisal: Entertaining short film, that thrives on the fear middle-class people felt of ethnic minorities in general and gypsies in particular. Even in a simple film like this, one can see some ingenious camera-work decisions, such as shooting from above during the gypsy's run with the child, thus easily showing his efforts not to be seen by another person on his path.
Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
Synopsis: Two brothers, of 6 and 10, play a magical board game that transports them, along with their entire house, into outer space.
Appraisal: A version of the Chris Van Allsburg 2002 novel which is a variation on his 1982 novel Jumanji. If you like movies that have absolutely no new idea or original concept, and feature some extremely clumsy mental contraptions like the magical board itself or two versions of a person of different ages co-existing or two versions of the same person of the same age co-existing, or dragon aliens, go for this movie. It is for you. As for me, I have no problem watching kids movies, as long as they have some talent to them. Not the case here.
Rating: 27
Appraisal: A version of the Chris Van Allsburg 2002 novel which is a variation on his 1982 novel Jumanji. If you like movies that have absolutely no new idea or original concept, and feature some extremely clumsy mental contraptions like the magical board itself or two versions of a person of different ages co-existing or two versions of the same person of the same age co-existing, or dragon aliens, go for this movie. It is for you. As for me, I have no problem watching kids movies, as long as they have some talent to them. Not the case here.
Rating: 27
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Corpse Bride (2005)
Synopsis: A young man about to get married accidentally speaks his vows next to a deceased woman. She then claims him as her husband.
Appraisal: The animation is top quality, very stylish and aesthetically pleasing; the premise of the movie -- more on that subject ahead -- is ingenious; the individual set-pieces, however, vary in quality and the songs are unmemorable; the overall spectacle is interesting and entertaining yet not enthralling. Now, credit where credit is due. The Wikipedia -- where would we be without it? -- entry for this film tells us it is "based loosely on a 19th century Russian-Jewish folktale version of an older Jewish story". I quote the entire "Origins" section of that page:
"The origin of the folktale can be traced back to Rabbi Isaac Luria of Safed, a 16th century mystic. In the original folktale, "The Finger," the "corpse bride" in question is not a deceased woman, but a demon. In the 19th century Russian-Jewish adaptation, a woman is killed on her wedding day and is buried in her wedding gown. Later, a man on his way to his own wedding sees her ring finger poking out of the ground and thinks that it's a stick. As a joke, he puts his bride's wedding ring on the finger and dances around it, singing and reciting his marriage sacrament. The woman's corpse emerges from the ground (with the man's ring on her finger) and declares herself married to the man.
The folktale adaptation was born of the anti-Jewish Russian pogroms of the 19th century, in which young women were said to have been ripped from their carriages and killed on the way to their weddings. The folktale usually ends with the rabbis deciding to annul the corpse's marriage and the live bride swearing that she will live her marriage in the corpse's memory, part of the Jewish tradition of honoring the dead through the lives and good works of the living.
A similar motif has also been used by Prosper Mérimée in his story La Vénus d'Ille. Instead of the corpse bride, the ancient statue of Venus figures in the story.
A recurring image through the movie is that of a blue butterfly, ranging from a drawing Victor makes at the beginning, using a live model, to the Corpse Bride herself dissolving into mass of butterflies. This resonates with a European folktale that a brutally murdered woman would be reborn as a butterfly."
Rating: 64
Appraisal: The animation is top quality, very stylish and aesthetically pleasing; the premise of the movie -- more on that subject ahead -- is ingenious; the individual set-pieces, however, vary in quality and the songs are unmemorable; the overall spectacle is interesting and entertaining yet not enthralling. Now, credit where credit is due. The Wikipedia -- where would we be without it? -- entry for this film tells us it is "based loosely on a 19th century Russian-Jewish folktale version of an older Jewish story". I quote the entire "Origins" section of that page:
"The origin of the folktale can be traced back to Rabbi Isaac Luria of Safed, a 16th century mystic. In the original folktale, "The Finger," the "corpse bride" in question is not a deceased woman, but a demon. In the 19th century Russian-Jewish adaptation, a woman is killed on her wedding day and is buried in her wedding gown. Later, a man on his way to his own wedding sees her ring finger poking out of the ground and thinks that it's a stick. As a joke, he puts his bride's wedding ring on the finger and dances around it, singing and reciting his marriage sacrament. The woman's corpse emerges from the ground (with the man's ring on her finger) and declares herself married to the man.
The folktale adaptation was born of the anti-Jewish Russian pogroms of the 19th century, in which young women were said to have been ripped from their carriages and killed on the way to their weddings. The folktale usually ends with the rabbis deciding to annul the corpse's marriage and the live bride swearing that she will live her marriage in the corpse's memory, part of the Jewish tradition of honoring the dead through the lives and good works of the living.
A similar motif has also been used by Prosper Mérimée in his story La Vénus d'Ille. Instead of the corpse bride, the ancient statue of Venus figures in the story.
A recurring image through the movie is that of a blue butterfly, ranging from a drawing Victor makes at the beginning, using a live model, to the Corpse Bride herself dissolving into mass of butterflies. This resonates with a European folktale that a brutally murdered woman would be reborn as a butterfly."
Rating: 64
Friday, December 29, 2006
The Presidio (1988)
Synopsis: A police detective is assigned the investigation of the murder of a military police that happened while she was patrolling the premises of a club belonging to an army base. He has to work in partnership with a colonel stationed at the base.
Appraisal: A routine mystery drama, with the mandatory love subplot. Technically the film is very well done, and has a well staged car chase very near its beginning; thus the female character who believes in 'cutting to the chase' in the sex department could perhaps be taken as a mirror of the film structure itself. Later in the film, there is an equally well handled foot chase. The 'mystery' is very poorly explained though.
Rating: 37
Appraisal: A routine mystery drama, with the mandatory love subplot. Technically the film is very well done, and has a well staged car chase very near its beginning; thus the female character who believes in 'cutting to the chase' in the sex department could perhaps be taken as a mirror of the film structure itself. Later in the film, there is an equally well handled foot chase. The 'mystery' is very poorly explained though.
Rating: 37
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Mauá: O Imperador e o Rei (1999)
Synopsis: This is the real life story of Irineu Evangelista de Sousa, the Viscount of Mauá, a 19th century Brazilian businessman. From a poor rural origin, he moved to Rio de Janeiro where he, beginning as a cashier, moved up to become a ship-maker, a railroad-maker and a banker. He would face the opposition of farmers and of the emperor himself.
Appraisal: On the good side, one can say that this is an instructive, easy to watch, film; also, the period reconstruction is good. On the not-so-good side, it is hard to find a dialogue or a sequence that is not utterly cliché. The characters are manicheistically delineated, with a typical villain in the person of the Viscount of Feitosa, the scheming farmer leader. The main character is portrayed in a favorable light, both in his entrepreneurial actions and in his support to the abolitionist cause; in particular, he is shown to have a lifelong friendship with one particular black employee of him. But, based on what the film itself shows, it is hard to sympathize fully with the character; his ruin, it appears, was at least as much a consequence of his own recklessnes as of his enemies' actions. On the other hand, the film is probably correct in identifying the opposition between Mauá and the farmers as one between economic development and the reactionary protection of oligarchic interests. Certain pieces of dialogue are very implausible, e.g. when his English partner discusses the labor conditions in England as if he had nothing to do with them. There is one particular line that was completely enigmatic: when Mauá confesses, at his black friend's deathbed, that he regrets having chosen a faceless boss. A final note: no credit has been given to Jorge Caldeira's 1995 biography "Mauá: Empresário do Império"; thus I don't know whether it was used as a source for this film.
Rating: 51
Appraisal: On the good side, one can say that this is an instructive, easy to watch, film; also, the period reconstruction is good. On the not-so-good side, it is hard to find a dialogue or a sequence that is not utterly cliché. The characters are manicheistically delineated, with a typical villain in the person of the Viscount of Feitosa, the scheming farmer leader. The main character is portrayed in a favorable light, both in his entrepreneurial actions and in his support to the abolitionist cause; in particular, he is shown to have a lifelong friendship with one particular black employee of him. But, based on what the film itself shows, it is hard to sympathize fully with the character; his ruin, it appears, was at least as much a consequence of his own recklessnes as of his enemies' actions. On the other hand, the film is probably correct in identifying the opposition between Mauá and the farmers as one between economic development and the reactionary protection of oligarchic interests. Certain pieces of dialogue are very implausible, e.g. when his English partner discusses the labor conditions in England as if he had nothing to do with them. There is one particular line that was completely enigmatic: when Mauá confesses, at his black friend's deathbed, that he regrets having chosen a faceless boss. A final note: no credit has been given to Jorge Caldeira's 1995 biography "Mauá: Empresário do Império"; thus I don't know whether it was used as a source for this film.
Rating: 51
"Unseen Cinema: Picturing a Metropolis" [DVD]
This is the 5th disc in the collection and has the subtitle "New York City Unveiled". Its contents:
The Blizzard (1899)—creators unknown
Lower Broadway (1902)—Robert K. Bonine
Beginning of a Skyscraper (1902)—Robert K. Bonine
Panorama from Times Building, New York (1905)—Wallace McCutcheon
Skyscrapers of NYC from North River (1903)—J.B. Smith
Panorama from Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge (1903)—G.W. "Billy" Bitzer [IMDb says 1899]
Building Up and Demolishing the Star Theatre (1902)—Frederick Armitage
Coney Island at Night (1905)—Edwin S. Porter
Interior New York Subway 14th Street to 42nd Street (1905)—G.W. "Billy" Bitzer
Seeing New York by Yacht (1902)—Frederick Armitage & A.E. Weed
2 Looney Lens: Split Skyscrapers (1924) and Tenth Avenue, NYC (1924)—Al Brick
4 Scenes from Ford Educational Weekly (1916-24)—creators unknown
Manhatta (1921)—Charles Sheeler & Paul Strand
Twentyfour-Dollar Island (c. 1926)—Robert Flaherty
Skyscraper Symphony (1929)—Robert Florey
Manhattan Medley (1931)—Bonney Powell
A Bronx Morning (1931)—Jay Leyda
Footnote to Fact (1933)—Lewis Jacobs
"Seeing the World", Part One: A Visit to New York, N.Y. (1937)—Rudy Burckhardt
Pursuit of Hapiness (1940)—Rudy Burckhardt
Gold Diggers of 1935 — "Lullaby of Broadway" (1935)—Busby Berkeley (excerpt)
Autumn Fire (1930-33)—Herman Weinberg
The Blizzard (1899)—creators unknown
Lower Broadway (1902)—Robert K. Bonine
Beginning of a Skyscraper (1902)—Robert K. Bonine
Panorama from Times Building, New York (1905)—Wallace McCutcheon
Skyscrapers of NYC from North River (1903)—J.B. Smith
Panorama from Tower of the Brooklyn Bridge (1903)—G.W. "Billy" Bitzer [IMDb says 1899]
Building Up and Demolishing the Star Theatre (1902)—Frederick Armitage
Coney Island at Night (1905)—Edwin S. Porter
Interior New York Subway 14th Street to 42nd Street (1905)—G.W. "Billy" Bitzer
Seeing New York by Yacht (1902)—Frederick Armitage & A.E. Weed
2 Looney Lens: Split Skyscrapers (1924) and Tenth Avenue, NYC (1924)—Al Brick
4 Scenes from Ford Educational Weekly (1916-24)—creators unknown
Manhatta (1921)—Charles Sheeler & Paul Strand
Twentyfour-Dollar Island (c. 1926)—Robert Flaherty
Skyscraper Symphony (1929)—Robert Florey
Manhattan Medley (1931)—Bonney Powell
A Bronx Morning (1931)—Jay Leyda
Footnote to Fact (1933)—Lewis Jacobs
"Seeing the World", Part One: A Visit to New York, N.Y. (1937)—Rudy Burckhardt
Pursuit of Hapiness (1940)—Rudy Burckhardt
Gold Diggers of 1935 — "Lullaby of Broadway" (1935)—Busby Berkeley (excerpt)
Autumn Fire (1930-33)—Herman Weinberg
A Cor do Seu Destino (1986)
English title: The Color of Destiny.
Synopsis: A teenage boy whose parents fled Chile for Brazil after the 1973 coup goes through a troubled period in which memories of his killed brother emerge; to make matters worse, his girlfriend is having an affair with one of her teachers.
Appraisal: Competently done, well acted and well scored drama that nevertheless fails to fully engage due to a less than resonating storyline. There are interesting parallels between the personal and political aspects -- two nationalities/two girlfriends, despotic regime/despotic father -- but these parallels are not explored and it is up to the viewer to elaborate on them.
Rating: 53
Synopsis: A teenage boy whose parents fled Chile for Brazil after the 1973 coup goes through a troubled period in which memories of his killed brother emerge; to make matters worse, his girlfriend is having an affair with one of her teachers.
Appraisal: Competently done, well acted and well scored drama that nevertheless fails to fully engage due to a less than resonating storyline. There are interesting parallels between the personal and political aspects -- two nationalities/two girlfriends, despotic regime/despotic father -- but these parallels are not explored and it is up to the viewer to elaborate on them.
Rating: 53
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
D.W. Griffith - Years of Discovery: 1909-1913 [DVD]
DVD contents (the titles with an asterisk I have seen in the last two days; the other titles I have seen earlier):
Those Awful Hats (1909)
The Sealed Room (1909)
The Red Man's View (1909)
Corner in Wheat (1909)
The Unchanging Sea (1910)
In the Border States (1910)
His Trust (1911) (*)
What Shall We Do with Our Old? (1911) (*)
For His Son (1912)
The Sunbeam (1912)
The Girl and Her Trust (1912)
The Female of the Species (1912) (*)
One Is Business, the Other Crime (1912) (*)
An Unseen Enemy (1912) (*)
The Painted Lady (1912)
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
The New York Hat (1912)
The Burglar's Dilemma (1912) (*)
The House of Darkness (1913)
Death's Marathon (1913) (*)
The Mothering Heart (1913)
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1913)
------------------------------------------
Comments: Griffith is always interesting, but among the ones marked with an asterisk the only noteworthy one is 'The Female of the Species', which has a bold concept and a remarkable aesthetical appeal.
Those Awful Hats (1909)
The Sealed Room (1909)
The Red Man's View (1909)
Corner in Wheat (1909)
The Unchanging Sea (1910)
In the Border States (1910)
His Trust (1911) (*)
What Shall We Do with Our Old? (1911) (*)
For His Son (1912)
The Sunbeam (1912)
The Girl and Her Trust (1912)
The Female of the Species (1912) (*)
One Is Business, the Other Crime (1912) (*)
An Unseen Enemy (1912) (*)
The Painted Lady (1912)
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912)
The New York Hat (1912)
The Burglar's Dilemma (1912) (*)
The House of Darkness (1913)
Death's Marathon (1913) (*)
The Mothering Heart (1913)
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1913)
------------------------------------------
Comments: Griffith is always interesting, but among the ones marked with an asterisk the only noteworthy one is 'The Female of the Species', which has a bold concept and a remarkable aesthetical appeal.
Monday, December 25, 2006
The Upside of Anger (2005)
Synopsis: A housewife with four daughters becomes a bitter and angry woman after her husband disappears.
Appraisal: Although its premise and one or two lines of dialogue or voiceover hold some insight into human relationships, the majority of this movie is ufunny, trite and dull.
Rating: 33
Appraisal: Although its premise and one or two lines of dialogue or voiceover hold some insight into human relationships, the majority of this movie is ufunny, trite and dull.
Rating: 33
Casino Royale (2006)
Synopsis: A British MI6 agent has to win a cards game against a private banker who funds terrorist organizations; the aim of the agent is to force the banker into ruin and make him collaborate with the government.
Appraisal: Spy thriller that has highly elaborate action sequences, nice locations, and an interesting storyline. Maybe it goes a little over the top sometimes and runs a little too long. Also, don't expect it to stray too much from formula. Based on a 1953 novel by Ian Fleming.
Rating: 65
Appraisal: Spy thriller that has highly elaborate action sequences, nice locations, and an interesting storyline. Maybe it goes a little over the top sometimes and runs a little too long. Also, don't expect it to stray too much from formula. Based on a 1953 novel by Ian Fleming.
Rating: 65
Autumn in New York (2000)
Synopsis: A womanizer meets a younger woman with a serious illness.
Appraisal: The screenplay is seriously uninspired. Not only the general premise is far from promising, but the detailed development is pedestrian at best, and embarrassing at worst (e.g. the laughable scene when the doctor comes from the surgery room). But one has to admit that it is very photogenic and well filmed.
Rating: 38
Appraisal: The screenplay is seriously uninspired. Not only the general premise is far from promising, but the detailed development is pedestrian at best, and embarrassing at worst (e.g. the laughable scene when the doctor comes from the surgery room). But one has to admit that it is very photogenic and well filmed.
Rating: 38
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Cattle Empire (1958)
Synopsis: A man accused of being indirectly responsible for several deaths in a small town returns there and is about to be killed by the townspeople when a farmer intervenes and saves him. The farmer then hires the man to drive his cattle to an army base.
Appraisal: The story told by this modest western has a few implausible turns, but the film is watchable nevertheless. The cinematography is attractive, and the the narrative is fluent enough to keep the viewer interested.
Rating: 44
Appraisal: The story told by this modest western has a few implausible turns, but the film is watchable nevertheless. The cinematography is attractive, and the the narrative is fluent enough to keep the viewer interested.
Rating: 44
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Taking Off (1971)
Synopsis: A couple is worried that their daughter might have "taken off" and starts looking for her. In the process, they too will experience what those words in quotes mean, in both the intransitive and the transitive senses...
Appraisal: A film of many wonders, genuinely funny and quite moving in its portrayal of an era and its fashionable concerns and attitudes. Also, marvelously edited (especially in some of the musical numbers). And the cast is perfect. I can't think of much else to say about it. As an embarrassing note, I add that some years ago I didn't care much for it, having quit halfway through it.
Rating: 78 -- 17th position among my favorites of 1971.
Appraisal: A film of many wonders, genuinely funny and quite moving in its portrayal of an era and its fashionable concerns and attitudes. Also, marvelously edited (especially in some of the musical numbers). And the cast is perfect. I can't think of much else to say about it. As an embarrassing note, I add that some years ago I didn't care much for it, having quit halfway through it.
Rating: 78 -- 17th position among my favorites of 1971.
Friday, December 22, 2006
L'impressionniste fin de siècle (1899)
English titles: A Turn of the Century Illusionist; An Up-to-Date Conjuror.
Description: Early Méliès trick film.
Description: Early Méliès trick film.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Storia di una capinera (1993)
English title: Sparrow.
Synopsis: In 19th century Sicily, the interns at a convent have to go back to their homes during some time to avoid a cholera epidemic. Young Maria is one of them and, once home, she makes the acquaintance of the handsome Nino. They fall in love but Maria still thinks that she was destined to be a nun.
Appraisal: This melodrama, adapted from a 1871 novella by Giovanni Verga, is rather implausible in that characters behave either too self-effacingly or too devilishly. It is also a little sloppy in technical terms, using zoom rather liberally. Apparently my VHS copy was missing 5 minutes of film.
Rating: 39
Synopsis: In 19th century Sicily, the interns at a convent have to go back to their homes during some time to avoid a cholera epidemic. Young Maria is one of them and, once home, she makes the acquaintance of the handsome Nino. They fall in love but Maria still thinks that she was destined to be a nun.
Appraisal: This melodrama, adapted from a 1871 novella by Giovanni Verga, is rather implausible in that characters behave either too self-effacingly or too devilishly. It is also a little sloppy in technical terms, using zoom rather liberally. Apparently my VHS copy was missing 5 minutes of film.
Rating: 39
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1914)
Synopsis: In the beginning of the film, we are informed that a slave named Jim Vance has escaped and a reward is being offered. Subsequently, we find that George Shelby, a farmer, is going through financial troubles and is being threatened by a certain Haley, who will foreclose on him unless Shelby gives him two of his slaves, an old man known as Uncle Tom and a little boy called Harry, the son of George Harris and Eliza. Meanwhile George Harris (described as a 'mulatto') escapes with Jim Vance to Canada, where he expects to gather enough money to buy his freedom and his family's. Eliza takes her child and escapes before he is given to Haley. Thus Haley takes Uncle Tom, who is a very religious man and much liked by everyone, to New Orleans. Meanwhile, a fierce hunt for both George Harris and Eliza is led, but they manage to elude their persecutors; George and Eliza finally meet and head to Canada. Meanwhile, in the ship to New Orleans Uncle Tom saves little Eva St. Clair from drowning and is bought by her family. Tom is happy with them. Later, Eva gets sick and dies. Mr. St. Clair is killed while trying to stop a bar fight and Tom is sold at an auction to the cruel and permanently drunken Simon Legree. Tom is put to work in the fields. After an argument between Tom, the supervisor and one worker, Tom is ordered to flog the worker but refuses and is himself flogged as punishment. Cassy the housekeeper intercedes in defense of Tom and is sent to work in the fields as punishment; young Emmeline is assigned as her replacement in the housekeeping duties (and, it is insinuated, as Legree's lover), but the two women plot their escape. Meanwhile, George Shelby's son, who had made a promise when he was a child to seek Tom, keeps his promise and the two finally meet; Tom dies shortly thereafter. Meanwhile the slave whom Tom had refused to flog avenges Tom's flogging by killing Legree.
Appraisal: This silent version of the famous 1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a decent film considering the year it was made. The story itself is rather corny; I confess I have never read the novel. My copy lasted 43 minutes; IMDb states the film's length to be 54 minutes.
Appraisal: This silent version of the famous 1852 novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe is a decent film considering the year it was made. The story itself is rather corny; I confess I have never read the novel. My copy lasted 43 minutes; IMDb states the film's length to be 54 minutes.
Palmetto (1998)
Synopsis: A man agrees to assist in the faked kidnapping of the daughter of a millionaire. But everything and everyone may not be exactly what it seems.
Appraisal: Entertaining noirish thriller, based on the 1961 novel "Just Another Sucker" by James Hadley Chase. Its plot is very similar to other stories of the genre, with the femme fatale, the ex-con, some plot twists, and so on. Formally, this one favors a straightforward rendering of the story over the atmospheric or overdramatized styles that were common in other films of this genre.
Rating: 57
Appraisal: Entertaining noirish thriller, based on the 1961 novel "Just Another Sucker" by James Hadley Chase. Its plot is very similar to other stories of the genre, with the femme fatale, the ex-con, some plot twists, and so on. Formally, this one favors a straightforward rendering of the story over the atmospheric or overdramatized styles that were common in other films of this genre.
Rating: 57
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
"Unseen Cinema: Inverted Narratives" [DVD]
This is the 4th DVD in the box and its theme is "New Directions in Story-Telling". The contents of this DVD are:
The House with Closed Shutters (1910)—D.W. Griffith & G.W. "Billy" Bitzer
Suspense (1913)—Lois Weber & Philips Smalley
Moonland (c. 1926)—Neil McQuire & William A. O’Connor
Lullaby (1929)—Boris Deutsch
The Bridge (1929-30)—Charles Vidor
Little Geezer (1932)—Theodore Huff
Black Dawn (1933)—Josef Berne & Seymour Stern
Native Land (1937-41)—Frontier Films: Leo Hurwitz & Paul Strand (excerpt)
The Black Legion (1936-7)—Nykino: Ralph Steiner & Willard Van Dyke
Even As You and I (1937)—Roger Barlow, Harry Hay & Le Roy Robbins
Object Lesson (1941)—Christoher Young
"Sredni Vashtar" by Saki (1940-43)—David Bradley
I wrote reviews for Lullaby, Little Geezer, and Black Dawn.
The House with Closed Shutters (1910)—D.W. Griffith & G.W. "Billy" Bitzer
Suspense (1913)—Lois Weber & Philips Smalley
Moonland (c. 1926)—Neil McQuire & William A. O’Connor
Lullaby (1929)—Boris Deutsch
The Bridge (1929-30)—Charles Vidor
Little Geezer (1932)—Theodore Huff
Black Dawn (1933)—Josef Berne & Seymour Stern
Native Land (1937-41)—Frontier Films: Leo Hurwitz & Paul Strand (excerpt)
The Black Legion (1936-7)—Nykino: Ralph Steiner & Willard Van Dyke
Even As You and I (1937)—Roger Barlow, Harry Hay & Le Roy Robbins
Object Lesson (1941)—Christoher Young
"Sredni Vashtar" by Saki (1940-43)—David Bradley
I wrote reviews for Lullaby, Little Geezer, and Black Dawn.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
Synopsis: A junky and his girlfriend go to a lot of trouble to find drugs in a period of shortage. Meanwhile, the junky's mother goes under treatment to lose weight and becomes a medicine addict as a consequence.
Appraisal: The direction is overly reliant on sophomoric tricks such as speed motion, low angle shots of heads against a background that show a person walking like he/she was gliding through space (I wish I could explain it better -- I guess you will have to watch the film to see what I am talking about), etc. The script, based on a 1978 novel by Hubert Selby, Jr., is somewhat dated, I think -- I don't see how a present-day woman could have the naive notions that the Sara character has; the police behavior, too, resembles that of bygone eras; doctors like the one shown in the movie most likely do not exist nowadays; ditto, the hospital procedures. Of course, the film is strongly caricatural, but it's alway nice to know what is being caricatured. Despite all this, it's still an engaging film, and it owes that greatly to the leading female performance; in fact, all the other performances are worthy of note too.
Rating: 62
Appraisal: The direction is overly reliant on sophomoric tricks such as speed motion, low angle shots of heads against a background that show a person walking like he/she was gliding through space (I wish I could explain it better -- I guess you will have to watch the film to see what I am talking about), etc. The script, based on a 1978 novel by Hubert Selby, Jr., is somewhat dated, I think -- I don't see how a present-day woman could have the naive notions that the Sara character has; the police behavior, too, resembles that of bygone eras; doctors like the one shown in the movie most likely do not exist nowadays; ditto, the hospital procedures. Of course, the film is strongly caricatural, but it's alway nice to know what is being caricatured. Despite all this, it's still an engaging film, and it owes that greatly to the leading female performance; in fact, all the other performances are worthy of note too.
Rating: 62
Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
Synopsis: A musician settles for a teaching job in the hopes of composing in his free time, but the job is much more time consuming than he had expected.
Appraisal: There are some things to like in this movie. For example, the ingenious use of song lyrics to illustrate or express feelings or thoughts related to the story is something to be remarked. It happened at two occasions: while Rowena is singing Someone to Watch Over Me by George and Ira Gershwin, and while Glenn is singing Beautiful Boy by John Lennon. During the latter song, the curious thing is that, while it is sung ostensibly as a homage to Glenn's son, it may actually be a comment about Glenn's life, summarized in the verse "Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans". The rest of the film suffers from a pedestrian execution, especially in the connecting sequences showing the passage of time. Curiously, there is a quote by Tchaikowsky stating that the main problem faced by him as a composer were the connecting parts of a piece. The film relies on clichés most of the time, most notably in the definition of characters. The main actor pulls off a remarkable performance, and the rest of the cast is also good.
Rating: 50
Appraisal: There are some things to like in this movie. For example, the ingenious use of song lyrics to illustrate or express feelings or thoughts related to the story is something to be remarked. It happened at two occasions: while Rowena is singing Someone to Watch Over Me by George and Ira Gershwin, and while Glenn is singing Beautiful Boy by John Lennon. During the latter song, the curious thing is that, while it is sung ostensibly as a homage to Glenn's son, it may actually be a comment about Glenn's life, summarized in the verse "Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans". The rest of the film suffers from a pedestrian execution, especially in the connecting sequences showing the passage of time. Curiously, there is a quote by Tchaikowsky stating that the main problem faced by him as a composer were the connecting parts of a piece. The film relies on clichés most of the time, most notably in the definition of characters. The main actor pulls off a remarkable performance, and the rest of the cast is also good.
Rating: 50
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Um Uísque Antes... e um Cigarro Depois (1970)
Synopsis of Segment 1: The friendship between two men is shattered by the revelation that one of them is hitting on the other's wife. A revenge is planned.
Synopsis of Segment 2: A woman had a sexual relationship with a man who eventually abandoned her. She consults a lawyer about the prospects of suing her former lover, but the lawyer has plans of his own.
Synopsis of Segment 3: A 17 year old man, living with his parents, develops a strong desire towards an 18 year old woman who is staying with them, but, instead of opening up to her, approaches her in a surreptitious manner.
Appraisal of the entire movie: Of the three short stories adapted for this film, I have only read the second one, and it is an excellent short story. Sadly, this literary brilliance didn't translate into cinematic brilliance and this is possibly the worst of the three segments. Not that the other two are much better. The whole movie has an exploitative air about it, typical of the early seventies' Brazilian movies where lots of naked women and sexual thematics were used to attract audiences. This one is a notch above the rest, perhaps. The camerawork is characterized by the relentless use of zoom, that gives a cheap air to the movie.
Rating: 34
Synopsis of Segment 2: A woman had a sexual relationship with a man who eventually abandoned her. She consults a lawyer about the prospects of suing her former lover, but the lawyer has plans of his own.
Synopsis of Segment 3: A 17 year old man, living with his parents, develops a strong desire towards an 18 year old woman who is staying with them, but, instead of opening up to her, approaches her in a surreptitious manner.
Appraisal of the entire movie: Of the three short stories adapted for this film, I have only read the second one, and it is an excellent short story. Sadly, this literary brilliance didn't translate into cinematic brilliance and this is possibly the worst of the three segments. Not that the other two are much better. The whole movie has an exploitative air about it, typical of the early seventies' Brazilian movies where lots of naked women and sexual thematics were used to attract audiences. This one is a notch above the rest, perhaps. The camerawork is characterized by the relentless use of zoom, that gives a cheap air to the movie.
Rating: 34
Friday, December 15, 2006
Ovelha Negra: Uma Despedida de Solteiro (1974)
Synopsis: A man's last day of singlehood is spent away from his fiancée. He starts drinking early to placate his anxiety. His fiancée wished she could be near him at all times, but he isn't that keen on having her around...
Appraisal: 'Ovelha Negra' slipped under my radar for very long.Thanks to a poll in which several critics and film scholars chose the best Brazilian films of all times, I had my attention drawn to it and decided to see it. I was skeptical at first, as it is by the same guy that gave us the awful 'Engraçadinha', but by the very first frames of 'Ovelha Negra' it becomes obvious that there is no comparison between the two films. The first hour of 'Ovelha Negra' is arguably the best part of the film. It evokes life in the late forties in Brazil with a vividness and truth that are very rare in most films. Technically, the film is very well done, given its probable low budget. Of course, not everything is perfect. The actress that plays Rita the singer can't sing satisfactorily and that detracts a little from the film in terms of mood and believability. Also, perhaps the last half hour of the film could have been better thought out in its details. But the sum of this film's qualities is greater than the sum of its flaws, and I recommend it.
Rating: 57
Appraisal: 'Ovelha Negra' slipped under my radar for very long.Thanks to a poll in which several critics and film scholars chose the best Brazilian films of all times, I had my attention drawn to it and decided to see it. I was skeptical at first, as it is by the same guy that gave us the awful 'Engraçadinha', but by the very first frames of 'Ovelha Negra' it becomes obvious that there is no comparison between the two films. The first hour of 'Ovelha Negra' is arguably the best part of the film. It evokes life in the late forties in Brazil with a vividness and truth that are very rare in most films. Technically, the film is very well done, given its probable low budget. Of course, not everything is perfect. The actress that plays Rita the singer can't sing satisfactorily and that detracts a little from the film in terms of mood and believability. Also, perhaps the last half hour of the film could have been better thought out in its details. But the sum of this film's qualities is greater than the sum of its flaws, and I recommend it.
Rating: 57
Antitrust (2001)
Synopsis: A young computer programmer accepts the invitation to work for a gigantic computer corporation.
Appraisal: Weak cyberthriller, which starts serious but becomes so far-fetched as it goes along that it could be said to have switched to comedy. Its exposé pretensions are half-hearted and the cold fact is that it is just trying to capitalize on the interest that its theme arouses among a certain type of computer literate audience.
Rating: 33
Appraisal: Weak cyberthriller, which starts serious but becomes so far-fetched as it goes along that it could be said to have switched to comedy. Its exposé pretensions are half-hearted and the cold fact is that it is just trying to capitalize on the interest that its theme arouses among a certain type of computer literate audience.
Rating: 33
Thursday, December 14, 2006
O Vampiro de Copacabana (1976)
Synopsis: Carlos is a lower-middle-class man who struggles to make ends meet by the end of the month. He is married to Sueli but has affairs on the side.
Appraisal: This is not bad as a snapshot of the typical Brazilian middle class couple in the mid seventies, exposing its problems, both economical and existential. The film lacks both freshness in its scripting and polish in the mise-en-scene, though.
Rating: 44
Appraisal: This is not bad as a snapshot of the typical Brazilian middle class couple in the mid seventies, exposing its problems, both economical and existential. The film lacks both freshness in its scripting and polish in the mise-en-scene, though.
Rating: 44
Enough (2002/I)
Synopsis: A woman who has been beaten by her husband runs away with their daughter.
Appraisal: Awfully written drama. One of the worst screenplays of recent years that got filmed. I agree that the director is a top professional, but this film is simply a waste of his skills. To counter the sensation of total waste of time, I have devised a new reading of the film, that gives it an allegoric dimension. In this new reading, this film is a allegory on the subject of addiction. An addictive substance or habit is, when one first makes its acquaintance, just like a very chivalrous and attractive man is to a woman. It seems to fill one's needs perfectly, asking nothing or very little in return. After a time, however, it invariably loses its initial aura, becoming more and more like a trap one can't get away from. The initial pleasure is replaced by numbness and even pain. The process of freeing oneself from addiction is a tough one. It is like the woman running from the possessive husband. As one caption suggests, she can run but she can't hide. Only a firm determination from the part of the addict can release him/her from the habit that now poses a threat on his/her life. There is a slightly different reading where we have an allegory on cinephilia. It is self-referential since it is the film itself -- it boasts a director of acknowledged competence and a writer who once gave us gems like 'At Close Range' -- that stands for the deceitful husband. We cinephiles are the poor beaten wife.
Rating: 15
Appraisal: Awfully written drama. One of the worst screenplays of recent years that got filmed. I agree that the director is a top professional, but this film is simply a waste of his skills. To counter the sensation of total waste of time, I have devised a new reading of the film, that gives it an allegoric dimension. In this new reading, this film is a allegory on the subject of addiction. An addictive substance or habit is, when one first makes its acquaintance, just like a very chivalrous and attractive man is to a woman. It seems to fill one's needs perfectly, asking nothing or very little in return. After a time, however, it invariably loses its initial aura, becoming more and more like a trap one can't get away from. The initial pleasure is replaced by numbness and even pain. The process of freeing oneself from addiction is a tough one. It is like the woman running from the possessive husband. As one caption suggests, she can run but she can't hide. Only a firm determination from the part of the addict can release him/her from the habit that now poses a threat on his/her life. There is a slightly different reading where we have an allegory on cinephilia. It is self-referential since it is the film itself -- it boasts a director of acknowledged competence and a writer who once gave us gems like 'At Close Range' -- that stands for the deceitful husband. We cinephiles are the poor beaten wife.
Rating: 15
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Mr. Baseball (1992)
Synopsis: A baseball player is sold to a Japanese team.
Appraisal: This film explores the culture differences between the U.S. and Japan. Drama-wise, it is conventional and unconvincing, and comedy-wise undistinguished. It still works as mild entertainment though.
Rating: 42
Appraisal: This film explores the culture differences between the U.S. and Japan. Drama-wise, it is conventional and unconvincing, and comedy-wise undistinguished. It still works as mild entertainment though.
Rating: 42
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Spy Game (2001)
Synopsis: Tom Bishop, an American CIA agent, is captured by the Chinese while attempting to rescue someone from a Chinese prison. Nathan Muir, who was Bishop's mentor and is retiring on the following day, has to outwit his colleagues -- who wants to just let Bishop die -- in order to rescue his protégé.
Appraisal: Very unrealistic spy thriller. It follows the general conventions of the genre. The camerawork sometimes goes crazy, for instance in the rooftop sequence. Despite it all, it is still good entertainment.
Rating: 58
Appraisal: Very unrealistic spy thriller. It follows the general conventions of the genre. The camerawork sometimes goes crazy, for instance in the rooftop sequence. Despite it all, it is still good entertainment.
Rating: 58
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Musa (2001)
Synopsis: In 14th century China, during the Ming rule, a group of Korean envoys is accused of espionage and sent to exile. During the crossing of a desert they encounter a troop of Mongols (aka the Yuan people) who fight the envoys' Ming captors; the Mongols win and release the Koreans. Later, while trying to return to Korea, they encounter another party of Mongols that are holding a Ming princess hostage; they fight them and release her. They then decide to bring her back to her palace, but have to face the Mongols yet again in a terrible battle.
Appraisal: Badly written epic film, that has nevertheless some fine battle sequences. The screenplay has lots of poorly conceived situations and dialogue; one of them stood out as asinine: after a raid in a village, the Chinese commander that led the raid orders his soldiers to "kill all [the villagers], because they have seen us". And they will, what, testify in court? Shifting to good things, the film is mildly entertaining: it is visually nice most of the time and has a good amount of action. And there is one scene that is very beautiful: the princess standing unperturbed amidst the raging battle all around her. It lasts only a few seconds, but is quite memorable.
Rating: 38
Appraisal: Badly written epic film, that has nevertheless some fine battle sequences. The screenplay has lots of poorly conceived situations and dialogue; one of them stood out as asinine: after a raid in a village, the Chinese commander that led the raid orders his soldiers to "kill all [the villagers], because they have seen us". And they will, what, testify in court? Shifting to good things, the film is mildly entertaining: it is visually nice most of the time and has a good amount of action. And there is one scene that is very beautiful: the princess standing unperturbed amidst the raging battle all around her. It lasts only a few seconds, but is quite memorable.
Rating: 38
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Blizna (1976)
English title: The Scar.
Synopsis: A man is invited to assume the presidency of a new fertilizer factory. He has to go along with many decisions with which he does not agree.
Appraisal: The universe of corporate decisions, in the context of "Real Socialism", is the focus of this film. The key is realism. The writers and director were successful in the depiction of this microcosmos; almost everything and everyone is quite believable. The film is full of insight into the workings of the power game; it is an interplay of influences and interests where nominal power is almost never synonym of real power. Some of the details of the story are hard to fully assess for their plausibility, such as the fact that the same guy that supervises the construction of the company is the one who will run it; but this is perhaps besides the point. It is also hard to assess the relevance of this kind of story to the modern, capitalistic standard of economic and political relations. Anyway, it is hardly a film that will keep you on the edge of your seat, if I may express myself so vulgarly.
Rating: 60
Synopsis: A man is invited to assume the presidency of a new fertilizer factory. He has to go along with many decisions with which he does not agree.
Appraisal: The universe of corporate decisions, in the context of "Real Socialism", is the focus of this film. The key is realism. The writers and director were successful in the depiction of this microcosmos; almost everything and everyone is quite believable. The film is full of insight into the workings of the power game; it is an interplay of influences and interests where nominal power is almost never synonym of real power. Some of the details of the story are hard to fully assess for their plausibility, such as the fact that the same guy that supervises the construction of the company is the one who will run it; but this is perhaps besides the point. It is also hard to assess the relevance of this kind of story to the modern, capitalistic standard of economic and political relations. Anyway, it is hardly a film that will keep you on the edge of your seat, if I may express myself so vulgarly.
Rating: 60
Friday, December 08, 2006
The Hitman (1991)
Synopsis: A cop goes undercover as a member of the Italian Mafia in Seattle; his goal is to bring down both the Italian and the French Mafias, but a third, Iranian, Mafia becomes a player too, and must be dealt with, not to mention the cop's ex-partner gone bad.
Appraisal: Very simplistically plotted crime film, that includes a kid as a sentimental device.
Rating: 30
Appraisal: Very simplistically plotted crime film, that includes a kid as a sentimental device.
Rating: 30
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Cinemania (2002)
Description: Documentary about 5 New Yorkers whose main activity consists in watching films. They watch 2 to 5 films a day.
Appraisal: Partially interesting documentary. The insistence on focusing on the weirdness of the characters -- e.g. the interview with the ticket-taker -- is sad and proves the filmmakers can't think of something intelligent to say about their subjects.
Rating: 40
Appraisal: Partially interesting documentary. The insistence on focusing on the weirdness of the characters -- e.g. the interview with the ticket-taker -- is sad and proves the filmmakers can't think of something intelligent to say about their subjects.
Rating: 40
Natal da Portela (1988)
Synopsis: The real story of Natal, one of the founders of the Portela School of Samba, in Rio de Janeiro. From a poor background, he lost one arm in an accident at a young age. He later became a bookkeeper of the "Jogo do Bicho" (numbers game with animals standing for numbers), and that made him a wealthy man, at least for a while.
Appraisal: This is not a great film, perhaps. It is imperfect. It is mostly shot with a static camera, and the production values don't compare to Hollywood ones. But it has enough of the essential qualities a film should have, such as a good story and a screenplay that tells it intelligently and heartwarmingly; it also has good actors (most of them anyway). The staging is stylized in a sort of primitivistic way, that does not aim at realism. At the very least, its subject matter is very important for Brazilians; it has to do with the cultural history of Rio de Janeiro and, perhaps less so, of other Brazilian cities as well.
Rating: 60
Appraisal: This is not a great film, perhaps. It is imperfect. It is mostly shot with a static camera, and the production values don't compare to Hollywood ones. But it has enough of the essential qualities a film should have, such as a good story and a screenplay that tells it intelligently and heartwarmingly; it also has good actors (most of them anyway). The staging is stylized in a sort of primitivistic way, that does not aim at realism. At the very least, its subject matter is very important for Brazilians; it has to do with the cultural history of Rio de Janeiro and, perhaps less so, of other Brazilian cities as well.
Rating: 60
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
"Unseen Cinema: Light Rhythms" [DVD]
This is the third DVD in the box and is devoted to "Music and Abstraction". The films are:
Le Retour à la raison (1923)—Man Ray
Ballet mécanique (1923-24)—Fernand Léger & Dudley Murphy
Anémic cinéma (1924-26)—Rrose Sélavy (Marcel Duchamp)
Looney Lens: Anamorphic People (1927)—Al Brick
Out of the Melting Pot (1927)—W.J. Ganz Studio
H20 (1929)—Ralph Steiner
Surf and Seaweed (1929-30)—Ralph Steiner
7 Vorkapich Montage Sequences (1928-37)—Slavko Vorkapich
The Furies (1934) (from Crime Without Passion)
Skyline Dance (1928) (from Manhattan Cocktail)
Money Machine (1929) (from The Wolf of Wall Street)
Prohibition (1929) (from Sins of the Fathers)
Battle of Vitoria — Vorkapich edit (1937)
Battle of Vitoria —MGM release version, in The Firefly (1937)
Maytime (1937) (sequence)
So This Is Paris (1926)—Ernst Lubitsch (excerpt)
Light Rhythms (1930)—Francis Bruguière & Oswell Blakeston
Une Nuit sur le Mont Chauve (Night on Bald Mountain) (1934)—Alexandre Alexeieff & Claire Parker
Rhythm in Light (1934)—Mary Ellen Bute, Ted Nemeth & Melville Webber
Synchromy No. 2 (1936)—Mary Ellen Bute & Ted Nemeth
Parabola (1937)—Mary Ellen Bute & Ted Nemeth
Footlight Parade - "By a Waterfall" (1933)—Busby Berkeley
Glens Falls Sequence (1937-46)—Douglass Crockwell
Simple Destiny Abstractions (1937-40)—Douglass Crockwell
Abstract Movies (1937-47)—George L.K. Morris
Scherzo (1939)—Norman McLaren
Themis (1940)—Dwinell Grant
Contrathemis (1941)—Dwinell Grant
1941 (1941)—Francis Lee
Moods of the Sea (1940-42)—Slavko Vorkapich & John Hoffman
Le Retour à la raison (1923)—Man Ray
Ballet mécanique (1923-24)—Fernand Léger & Dudley Murphy
Anémic cinéma (1924-26)—Rrose Sélavy (Marcel Duchamp)
Looney Lens: Anamorphic People (1927)—Al Brick
Out of the Melting Pot (1927)—W.J. Ganz Studio
H20 (1929)—Ralph Steiner
Surf and Seaweed (1929-30)—Ralph Steiner
7 Vorkapich Montage Sequences (1928-37)—Slavko Vorkapich
The Furies (1934) (from Crime Without Passion)
Skyline Dance (1928) (from Manhattan Cocktail)
Money Machine (1929) (from The Wolf of Wall Street)
Prohibition (1929) (from Sins of the Fathers)
Battle of Vitoria — Vorkapich edit (1937)
Battle of Vitoria —MGM release version, in The Firefly (1937)
Maytime (1937) (sequence)
So This Is Paris (1926)—Ernst Lubitsch (excerpt)
Light Rhythms (1930)—Francis Bruguière & Oswell Blakeston
Une Nuit sur le Mont Chauve (Night on Bald Mountain) (1934)—Alexandre Alexeieff & Claire Parker
Rhythm in Light (1934)—Mary Ellen Bute, Ted Nemeth & Melville Webber
Synchromy No. 2 (1936)—Mary Ellen Bute & Ted Nemeth
Parabola (1937)—Mary Ellen Bute & Ted Nemeth
Footlight Parade - "By a Waterfall" (1933)—Busby Berkeley
Glens Falls Sequence (1937-46)—Douglass Crockwell
Simple Destiny Abstractions (1937-40)—Douglass Crockwell
Abstract Movies (1937-47)—George L.K. Morris
Scherzo (1939)—Norman McLaren
Themis (1940)—Dwinell Grant
Contrathemis (1941)—Dwinell Grant
1941 (1941)—Francis Lee
Moods of the Sea (1940-42)—Slavko Vorkapich & John Hoffman
Brokedown Palace (1999)
Synopsis: Two American young women on vacation in Thailand are caught with heroin and are sent to prison.
Appraisal: Easily watchable prison movie, similar in plot to Midnight Express (1978) and Return to Paradise (1998). Not very well thought out in terms of character psychology and believability, but has two lovely and talented principal actresses. Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.
Rating: 48
Appraisal: Easily watchable prison movie, similar in plot to Midnight Express (1978) and Return to Paradise (1998). Not very well thought out in terms of character psychology and believability, but has two lovely and talented principal actresses. Saw it dubbed in Portuguese.
Rating: 48
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Land of the Dead (2005)
Synopsis: The living dead threaten to invade a luxurious condominium. Meanwhile a guy steals a gigantic truck that is also a tank, and another guy is hired to get it back.
Appraisal: Although this is primarily an action-oriented film, there is some interest added by a possible political subtext in which the dead stand for the economically underprivileged. The curious fact is, this metaphor works much better for Third World viewers, since it is there that one finds a large segment of the population at the lowest stratum of society, with no jobs, no land, no homes, no education, etc. The rise of organizations such as the Landless Workers' Movement in Brazil is a consequence of the existence of this social segment, and the fear felt by the upper and middle classes is mirrored in this film by the fear that the living feel of the dead. But as I said the focus here is not on politics; this is an action movie and as such it offers nice but not especially memorable set-pieces. As a whole, it is somewhat undistinguished.
Rating: 47
Appraisal: Although this is primarily an action-oriented film, there is some interest added by a possible political subtext in which the dead stand for the economically underprivileged. The curious fact is, this metaphor works much better for Third World viewers, since it is there that one finds a large segment of the population at the lowest stratum of society, with no jobs, no land, no homes, no education, etc. The rise of organizations such as the Landless Workers' Movement in Brazil is a consequence of the existence of this social segment, and the fear felt by the upper and middle classes is mirrored in this film by the fear that the living feel of the dead. But as I said the focus here is not on politics; this is an action movie and as such it offers nice but not especially memorable set-pieces. As a whole, it is somewhat undistinguished.
Rating: 47
Monday, December 04, 2006
Tenemos 18 años (1959)
English titles: We Are 18 Years Old; When We Were 18.
Synopsis: Two 18 year old Spanish girls take a trip to Andalucía in an old jalopy (or imagine it).
Appraisal: In this film, the line between fact and imagination is extremely blurred. It is not clear whether the trip actually happened or not. Anyway, most events are clearly imaginary, since the action is repeatedly cut to the girls' room where they discuss a piece of fiction one of them has written which happens to narrate the events that took place immediately before. I didn't understand much of the dialogue, since I have trouble understanding spoken Spanish. The stories concocted by the two girls visit the crime, horror and comedy genres. In the horror segment the protagonist is a vampire whose adventures span several centuries and countries. Interestingly, he becomes deformed after one of his victims throws acid at his face -- as in Phantom of the Opera (1943). This shows that, although Gritos en la noche (1962) was obviously inspired by Les yeux sans visage (1960), Franco had the face deformity motif in mind even before the latter film came out.
Rating: somewhere between 25 and 45 (the exact number would depend on the dialogue that I have missed.)
Synopsis: Two 18 year old Spanish girls take a trip to Andalucía in an old jalopy (or imagine it).
Appraisal: In this film, the line between fact and imagination is extremely blurred. It is not clear whether the trip actually happened or not. Anyway, most events are clearly imaginary, since the action is repeatedly cut to the girls' room where they discuss a piece of fiction one of them has written which happens to narrate the events that took place immediately before. I didn't understand much of the dialogue, since I have trouble understanding spoken Spanish. The stories concocted by the two girls visit the crime, horror and comedy genres. In the horror segment the protagonist is a vampire whose adventures span several centuries and countries. Interestingly, he becomes deformed after one of his victims throws acid at his face -- as in Phantom of the Opera (1943). This shows that, although Gritos en la noche (1962) was obviously inspired by Les yeux sans visage (1960), Franco had the face deformity motif in mind even before the latter film came out.
Rating: somewhere between 25 and 45 (the exact number would depend on the dialogue that I have missed.)
The Jacket (2005)
Synopsis: A man is wounded in the head while serving in the Gulf War and as a consequence his memory is affected. Back in the US he is accused of the killing of an officer but, since he can't remember anything about it, he is sent to a mental institution where he is submitted to a bizarre treatment that will cause him to experience an even more bizarre phenomenon.
Appraisal: This is a classic example of a bad screenplay. There are far too many loosely connected plot elements and characters. The central idea is said to be loosely based on a Jack London story called "The Star Rover", but here it acquires definitely sick undertones, such as the idea of escaping to another life. The final product is certainly polished in terms of camerawork, acting and whatnot; what lies beneath is flimsy at best and unhealthy at worst.
Rating: 18
Appraisal: This is a classic example of a bad screenplay. There are far too many loosely connected plot elements and characters. The central idea is said to be loosely based on a Jack London story called "The Star Rover", but here it acquires definitely sick undertones, such as the idea of escaping to another life. The final product is certainly polished in terms of camerawork, acting and whatnot; what lies beneath is flimsy at best and unhealthy at worst.
Rating: 18
Sunday, December 03, 2006
"Unseen Cinema: The Devil's Plaything" [DVD]
This is the second DVD in the box and is devoted to "American Surrealism". The films are:
Jack and the Beanstalk (1902)—Edwin S. Porter
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)—Edwin S. Porter
The Thieving Hand (1907)—creator unknown, Vitagraph
Impossible Convicts (1905)—G.W. "Billy" Bitzer
When the Clouds Roll By (1919)—Douglas Fairbanks & Victor Fleming (excerpt)
Beggar on Horseback (1925)—James Cruze (excerpt)
The Fall of the House of Usher (1926-27)—J.S. Watson, Jr. & Melville Webber
The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra (1927)— Robert Florey & Slavko Vorkapich
The Love of Zero (1928)—Robert Florey & William Cameron Menzies
The Telltale Heart (1928)—Charles Klein
Tomatos Another Day (1930/1933)—J.S. Watson, Jr. & Alec Wilder
The Hearts of Age (1934)— William Vance & Orson Welles
Unreal News Reels (c. 1926)—Weiss Artclass Comedies (excerpt)
The Children’s Jury (c. 1938)—attributed Joseph Cornell
Thimble Theater (c. 1938)—Joseph Cornell
Carousel: Animal Opera (c. 1938)—Joseph Cornell
Jack’s Dream (c. 1938)—Joseph Cornell
I have reviewed The Telltale Heart. About the other ones, for now I'd like simply to note that the Cornell films left a deep mark upon me.
Jack and the Beanstalk (1902)—Edwin S. Porter
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)—Edwin S. Porter
The Thieving Hand (1907)—creator unknown, Vitagraph
Impossible Convicts (1905)—G.W. "Billy" Bitzer
When the Clouds Roll By (1919)—Douglas Fairbanks & Victor Fleming (excerpt)
Beggar on Horseback (1925)—James Cruze (excerpt)
The Fall of the House of Usher (1926-27)—J.S. Watson, Jr. & Melville Webber
The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra (1927)— Robert Florey & Slavko Vorkapich
The Love of Zero (1928)—Robert Florey & William Cameron Menzies
The Telltale Heart (1928)—Charles Klein
Tomatos Another Day (1930/1933)—J.S. Watson, Jr. & Alec Wilder
The Hearts of Age (1934)— William Vance & Orson Welles
Unreal News Reels (c. 1926)—Weiss Artclass Comedies (excerpt)
The Children’s Jury (c. 1938)—attributed Joseph Cornell
Thimble Theater (c. 1938)—Joseph Cornell
Carousel: Animal Opera (c. 1938)—Joseph Cornell
Jack’s Dream (c. 1938)—Joseph Cornell
I have reviewed The Telltale Heart. About the other ones, for now I'd like simply to note that the Cornell films left a deep mark upon me.
Felicia's Journey (1999)
Synopsis: A young Irish woman goes to England to look for her boyfriend. There she meets a middle aged man who offers to help her.
Appraisal: Tense psychological thriller, with two excellent leading performers and an intriguing story. The screenplay could perhaps be changed a bit; it wastes time with things of little relevance such as the protagonist driving to the place where her boyfriend is stationed, or when the two ex-lovers are in the same room and neither of them sees the other; instead, I'd insert a little more of Hilditch's past so we could understand him better.
Rating: 69
Appraisal: Tense psychological thriller, with two excellent leading performers and an intriguing story. The screenplay could perhaps be changed a bit; it wastes time with things of little relevance such as the protagonist driving to the place where her boyfriend is stationed, or when the two ex-lovers are in the same room and neither of them sees the other; instead, I'd insert a little more of Hilditch's past so we could understand him better.
Rating: 69
Saturday, December 02, 2006
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Synopsis: Two con-artists that simulate supernatural effects just so they can be hired to get rid of them are forced to deal with a true case of kidnapped children in 19th century French-occupied Germany.
Appraisal: This film is bad in so many ways that it becomes difficult to write a review about it. The most obvious problem (but not necessarily the biggest one) is the dialogue: I have never seen such badly written dialogue in my entire filmviewing life. Aside from that, the film is littered with small annoying details and events. Examples of that: a clay monster that takes a bite of himself and says 'Ooh I'm tasty'; the unrelenting apparition of roaches; the horrible French accent of one of the characters; and a very long etc. The result is a film that is unpleasant and silly almost all the time, and even some beautiful special effects and production design can do little to make it more palatable.
Rating: 10
P.S.: I saw this film again on 2008, October 18. Rereading the above review, I find it way too harsh. Although some of the faults that I point out are real, the film is not nearly as unwatchable as I seem to imply. It has its share of striking images, and, while I still maintain that it is mostly silly at its core, I didn't find it all that unpleasant. The rating has been increased to 35.
Appraisal: This film is bad in so many ways that it becomes difficult to write a review about it. The most obvious problem (but not necessarily the biggest one) is the dialogue: I have never seen such badly written dialogue in my entire filmviewing life. Aside from that, the film is littered with small annoying details and events. Examples of that: a clay monster that takes a bite of himself and says 'Ooh I'm tasty'; the unrelenting apparition of roaches; the horrible French accent of one of the characters; and a very long etc. The result is a film that is unpleasant and silly almost all the time, and even some beautiful special effects and production design can do little to make it more palatable.
Rating: 10
P.S.: I saw this film again on 2008, October 18. Rereading the above review, I find it way too harsh. Although some of the faults that I point out are real, the film is not nearly as unwatchable as I seem to imply. It has its share of striking images, and, while I still maintain that it is mostly silly at its core, I didn't find it all that unpleasant. The rating has been increased to 35.
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