The Young Victoria (2009)

Victoria is the only heir to the throne. Her mother,controlled by her lover, tries to make Victoria sign a regency act relinquishing her right to rule. Concurrently to that, a cousin from Belgium courts her. Although he is part of another plan to control her, the two sort of get along.

Yawn for the story, wow for the costumes and sets. It's dumbed down history, excised of interesting subplots for the sake of pleasing today's viewers.

Rating: 42

Little Man, What Now? (1934)

A couple expecting their first child struggles for survival in the Germany between wars.

Excellent film about the hardships of life, with hardly an unmemorable moment or performance. The type of realism displayed here should teach a lesson to young filmmakers who think that if you must film a house that's being painted, you must film the paint drying too.
This film is Dale Thomajan's third entry in his top ten of 1934.

Rating: 80
Number 6 among my favorites of 1934.

The Scarlet Empress (1934)

A fictional account of the rise of Catherine the Great, who was brought from Prussia to Russia to wed the idiot prince and produce an heir to the throne.

The plot's moral is very trivial and consists in that it doesn't take much brains to outsmart an idiot. As for the film's worth, it's all it's been said to be and more. I take it to be a representation of the essence of Russia, taken to be a balanced combination of West and East.
1st place in Dale Thomajan's top ten of 1934.

Rating: 95
1st among my favorites of 1934.

The Slender Thread (1965)

A woman swallows an overdose of sleeping pills and then dials to a suicide-prevention service.

This is a quite sophisticated film, with an inventively designed screenplay which plays out in non-chronological sequence. The opening credit sequence is also worthy of mention with a stunning view of some sites in the city of Seattle. This is my second viewing, with my rating slightly increased.

Rating: 61 (up from 56)

Footlight Parade (1933)

The film depicts a period in the life of a musical director turned "prologue" producer. Prologues were short musical films exhibited before features.

An interesting film, divided in two parts. First, we see a fairly realistic depiction of the troubles of producing musical films. Then we see their product, in the form of three Berkeley numbers.
Number 10 in Dale Thomajan's top ten of 1933.

Rating: 51

Dinner at Eight (1933)

The film depicts a few days in the lives of several characters who are linked by a dinner invitation.

The depression among the wealthy (or, mostly, formerly wealthy). Smart writing and superb acting makes this an engaging, albeit a little conventional, spectacle.
Number 9 in Dale Thomajan's Top Ten of 1933.

Rating: 59

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

A new musical play gets financed by the hired songwriter, mysteriously. He doesn't agree to sing onstage, though, mysteriously. He is the leading lady's sweetheart.

The author of the play on which this is based was known as "Playboy Playwright", just to give an idea. The enigma of a final number about World War I is explained (probably) by the fact that the source play was written when the war was on (or just over, I do no know for sure). Berkeley's choreographies are dazzling as usual. Like much of pre-code stuff this occasionally operates on a pornographic level in which boldness walks hand in hand with puritanism (e.g. the musical number in which a promise of nudity is not fulfilled). The structure accomodates the musical parts in the extremities of the movie, framing the farce, which develops without interruptions. The plot is based on a misunderstanding, and the main thesis is that the rich are prudes and hypocrites (a recurring theme in thirties' cinema, it appears). The musical within the film is described by its producer as a depression story; it could have been Hallelujah I'm a Bum. Despite its frivolity, Gold Diggers of 1933 is quite watchable and well-done.
It's number 7 in Dale Thomajan's top ten list for 1933.

Rating: 54

Hallelujah I'm a Bum (1933)

A series of incidents involving a hobo, the mayor, and the latter's girlfriend.

As reviewer Charles Morrow (wmorrow) and others cleverly observed in the User Reviews section of IMDb, this has the looks of something previously designed to be a sort of cheering-up piece in times of depression, making poverty look charming, or at least bearable. If that was the case, it never achieved its goals. Take for example the bank sequence, which IMDb user Swift-12 described so well: this sequence is as fine an exposé of the contradictions of capitalism as any Marxist treatise. Finally, as IMDb user planetguy insightfully concluded, the initial set-up is gradually dismantled by the plot development until it becomes clear that being a hobo is no fun ride at all.
(This film is number 6 in Dale Thomajan's top ten list for 1933.)

Rating: 56

Zoo in Budapest (1933)

A zoo employee who steals the visitors' fur coats, a boarding school intern who is turning eighteen and is about to be "sold" as a cheap worker in a tannnery, a little boy who wants to ride the elephant, all three become fugitives hiding in a zoo.

Visually dazzling and genuinely romantic, this film comes to prove what an underrated director Lee was (he also made a very good The Count of Monte Cristo). On a deeper level, the plot and imagery have symbolic dimensions which are clearly Freudian. The zoo stands for the human mind, in a clever way. All those unleashed beasts are obviously expressing the fundamental drama of two young people who discover their sexuality after a history of confinement.
This film is number 5 in Dale Thomajan's top ten list for 1933.

Rating: 73
(Number 7 in my favorites list for 1933.)

Eskimo (1933)

The dramatic life of Mala the eskimo, how he lost his first wife to the perfidy of the white man, how the spirits granted him a new name and thus a new life.

A prodigy of realism, even with some fake superpositions in some walrus hunting scenes. The actors are reportedly all nonprofessional, and most of them do a perfect job. The film is entirely structured around oppositions such as superior/inferior, strong/weak, primitive/civilized. Mala is the "superior" eskimo, his hunting skills are unmatched, he is entitled to his friend's wives. The white man can't keep his word, and "a weak word makes for a weak man". The white man's moral code doesn't mean a thing to the huskies, they are "superior". And so on. As much a masterpiece as was possible in the circumstances.
This is Dale Thomajan's number four in his top ten list for 1933.

Rating: 81
(Number 4 in my list of favorites for 1933.)

Marius (1931)

Set in the coastal town of Marseille, the film is centered on the drama of Marius and Fanny, two childhood friends. He is a waiter in his father's bar and she works at her mother's cockle stand. She has been in love with Marius since the very beginning of their acquaintance. He'd rather sail away.

A very gripping and transcendent drama. It comes down to the fact that life cannot give you all, you have to choose, but in fact there isn't much of a choice at all, one's got to do what one's got to do. In other words boys will be boys, girls will be girls. The direction does a lot with very little. Most of it is a theatrical transposition and the inserts between the scenes are very eloquent images of the sea, etc. The performances are marvelous.
Dale Thomajan placed it on the top of his top ten list for 1933 (he must have taken into account the year of the film's U.S. release).

Rating: 80
(4th place in my favorites for 1931)

Red-Headed Woman (1932)

An unscrupled working class woman tries to snatch her married boss.

The gold digger woman seems to be one of the main themes of the pre-code era. This film bears resemblances to The Greeks Had a Word for Them, which I saw previous. This one is more of a melodrama, though, and the leading character is more of a villain. She has no likeable features whatsoever. As manicheistic as that may appear, one just has to add two and two to see the reverse of the medal, namely, that social injustice breeds moral monsters. Not to mention the impossibility of complying with moral standards which are incompatible with man's (and woman's) biology.

Rating: 57

The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932)

Alternate Title: Three Broadway Girls.

Three friends who have no profession and no husband go through several adventures after one of them, an unscrupled manhunter, comes back from Europe without a dime.

Entertaining comedy whose plot doesn't live up to the cynicism which its initial caption implies; the different personalities of the main three female characters allow us to see the 'gold digger' through different angles. Only one of the characters is really embodying the gold digger in its stereotypical 'pure' state (that's 'Jean'); a second character, 'Schatzi', fits the pattern only partially since she does not resort to ethically questionable devices; and the third one, 'Polaire', is the farthest removed from the typical gold digger. Technically, though, they are all gold diggers, since all three are women who are financially dependent on men. The film poses the dilemma.
This is number nine in Dale Thomajan's top ten films for 1932.

Rating: 59

Jewel Robbery (1932)

A jewel thief and a rich woman fall in love with each other during a robbery on a jewel store.

Interesting movie. It's perhaps undecidable whether it is an indictment of capitalism or a celebration of it. In other words, it's hard or impossible to say whether it is an immoral film or a moral satire. Or, perhaps the right move is to steer away from Marx and to Freud; that way, the film would be construed as loaded with phallic symbology, viz., the act of forcing oneself into other people's property is tantamount to a display of male erotic power. Or, alas, maybe it's just a silly pre-code movie, a fossil of an era which lasted for a little while and never returned, for some reason. And here is where we should perhaps return to Marx, who said that history only repeats itself as farce, which, here, is probably the sixties.
It's number eight in Dale Thomajan's top ten list for 1932.
Obs.: I should watch it again if I want to understand better what the characters say.

Rating: 61

Virtue (1932)

A reformed prostitute meets a taxi driver and falls in love with him. He doesn't know about her past. He asks her to marry him.

Ingeniously plotted, psychologically realistic, morally relevant. It' a little dated though, except for places where they probably would not watch it anyway.
Number six in Dale Thomajan's top ten list for 1932.

Rating: 65

The Heart of New York (1932)

A poor inventor is pestered by his wife, who complains that he needs to be more realistic. They are always in financial troubles until one day...

Nice comedy, with a good dose of ruthlessness in its depiction of human egoism and what one might call the superior man's burden.
I didn't always keep up with the dialogue.
This film is number 4 in Dale Thomajan's top ten list for 1932.

Rating: 63

Obs.: There's a Brazilian novel by Orígenes Lessa called "The Bean and the Dream" ('O Feijão e o Sonho', 1938), which has a slightly similar premise, only it's about a poet instead of an inventor.

Love Me Tonight (1932)

A tailor gets involved with a bunch of nobles who live in a castle. He falls in love with one of them, a princess.

This is a fine example of collective work beautifully done. Everything is filled with the highest artistry, and one cannot look for more in a spectacle, except, perhaps, depth. Politically, it's still singing the glories of the French Revolution.
This is number three in Dale Thomajan's top ten list for 1932.

Rating: 83
(Number four in my favorites list for 1932.)

Two Seconds (1932)

A man with a pure heart gets involved with a morally corrupt woman.

Greatly poignant drama, a triumph of screenwriting and mise-en-scène on every count. Robinson's performance is one of the best performances ever given by a movie lead. And the truth of the matter is that the whole cast is brilliant.
The funny thing is, I was only yesterday reading an essay by Nabokov called "The Tragedy of Tragedy" where he exposes his thesis that the rules of tragedy dictate its structure in such a constraining way that they practically dictate its contents as well. One of the things that are written down "in advance", so to speak, is that it must end in suicide. Considering that among the films I recently saw two are tragedies that do not end in suicide but in execution (Dishonored and this Two Seconds), I tried to come up with an explanation for the fact that this possibility is never considered in Nabokov's essay, and the only thing that occurred to me is that perhaps it isn't becoming to a play, whereas in a movie it can satisfactorily be depicted.
Two Seconds is number one in Dale Thomajan's top ten list for 1932.

Rating: 88
Number two in my list of favorites for 1932.

Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931)

A sexually naive man is hit by a car and taken to a mansion where he is lovingly tended by the owner, whose younger sister won't marry until she does. The younger sister's fiancé has an idea.

Unappealing farce, with funny moments here and there. The younger-sister-won't-marry-until-older-sister-does part of the premise is from The Taming of the Shrew. (10th position in Dale Thomajan's top ten list for 1931.)

Rating: 40

Dishonored (1931)

A prostitute is offered the job of spy.

Visually exhuberant pulpish tale of bygone eras. Amusingly delirious, and no doubt liable to cause some giggling, especially at the raptures of the lead in her piano sessions. (8th position in Dale Thomajan's top ten list for 1931.)

Rating: 53

Platinum Blonde (1931)

A reporter marries a rich woman, even though her family disapproves of it. The financial disparity between men and woman generates some conflict; there is also a clash of lifestyles.

Quite entertaining. This film is quite in tune with Hollywood's ideology of that era, which associates wealth with artificiality and ultimately considers it an obstacle to happiness. It's a hypocritical view, of course, since most directors and stars were very rich. Well, maybe it's not exactly like that, and the point is not wealth but work. That is, it looks down on people who do not work for a living. In any case the plot's development is very articulate; the audience, which was mostly working and middle class, was sure to identify and thus have a good time. On another angle, the film is perhaps about the transition from non-fiction (here in the form of journalism) to fiction (the hero is writing a play). As a journalist he damages (by exposing them) the lives of people who are strangers to him; as a playwright he feeds on himself and those near him. Eventually it evolves into a fusion of his life and the fiction he is writing.

The hero in this film forgoes a stunning beauty for an uglier woman, a phenomenon which already occurred in The Public Enemy. The uglier woman is played by the same actress in both movies.

(This is number 7 in Dale Thomajan's top ten of 1931.)

Rating: 60

Little Caesar (1931)

The rise and fall of a gangster. Armed robbery is his business. His pal wants out, his dream is to be a dancer and get married.

Powerful criminal drama, and an interesting gaze into the roots of authoritarianism. And 'Rico' is actually a nice guy when compared to the likes of Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler (to mention only those who were on top or rising at the time this film was released). (Number 6 in Dale Thomajan's Top Ten of 1931.)

Rating: 73
(Number 5 in my List of Favorites of 1931.)

Une catastrophe (2008)

An old one-liner by the filmmaker is illustrated and fragmented into a poem of sorts.

It's all very "beautiful" but ultimately bullshit. And to think his subsequent film is a tribute to a guy whose worldview was the exact opposite of this...

Maldita Coincidência (1979)

An abandoned house is inhabited by assorted marginals. Garbage accumulates.

The truth about the hippie, Brazilian version. The inoperance of the left. The house a metaphor for the country. (What's with all the cross-dressing though?)

Rating: 31

The Unholy Three (1930)

I had lots of trouble understanding the dialogue, but I'll make a go at reviewing it all the same. This remake of the 1925 film is well made and there is an obvious advantage in watching a film where the characters can actually be heard instead of being seen moving their lips and then being followed by an intertitle. That being said, it's hard to say which is the better film. This talkie has also been improved in plot, mostly in the courtroom sequence and in the ending, which are more intelligently devised here. However, I am a tiny little bit inclined towards the silent version, which somehow has an aesthetic appeal all its own.
(Number 9 on Dale Thomajan's Top Nine for 1930.)

Rating: 53

The Unholy Three (1925)

Three circus performers -- a ventriloquist, a strong man, and a dwarf -- team up in a robbery scam. The ventriloquist's pickpocket girlfriend is also with them. Their base of operations is a bird shop which they run, the ventriloquist in old woman's drag, and the dwarf in baby's disguise.

Really, 20s' cinema was all imagination and no realism. This film must be the epitome of that. Earles must be about twice the size of a baby, but so what? Chaney's traits aren't exactly feminine, but, again, who cares? The outrageous premise (certain details of which I am not giving away) actually adds to the film's appeal, to a certain extent. And it is well made, so I wouldn't say it isn't a valid viewing experience.

Rating: 54

Mädchen in Uniform (1931)

Titles in English-speaking countries: Maedchen in Uniform, Girls in Uniform, Maidens in Uniform.

A girl who has lost her mother is sent to a boarding school. Like most girls in there, she falls in love with Miss von Bernburg, a teacher. This causes troubles for both of them.

Exquisite recreation of life in a boarding school in the early 20th century. Although the plot feels like a bowdlerization (and reportedly it is), it is sufficiently coherent to allow a feel of the teenage angst it is supposed to convey. It is interesting to analyse the film by present moral and legal standards. In a modern-day school Miss Bernburg would probably be eventually denounced for sexual abuse of minors and would certainly be fired and probably sued. But in the 30s it seems that mouth-kissing between women had a very contingent status. In here, it is perfectly ambiguous: it points simultaneously toward simple affection and toward eroticism (if there were no such ambiguity the film would make little sense); in Morocco there is a similar ambiguity, because 'Jolly' is performing while dressed as a man -- but that scene bears little relation to the rest of the plot, in my opinion (although an anonymous reviewer on TV Guide has pointed out the interesting contrast between 'Jolly''s virile manners -- which, however, I don't think exists outside of that cabaret performance -- and 'Brown''s effeminate ones); on the other hand, in Min and Bill, two women kiss on the mouth during a wedding ceremony and there is not a hint of anything erotic. Mädchen in Uniform is a very rewarding aesthetic experience. Number 3 in Dale Thomajan's Top Ten of 1931.

Rating: 77
(Number 4 in my list of favorites of 1931.)

The Public Enemy (1931)

The life of an American outlaw during Prohibition.

It's an almost perfect film and great fun. The characters' psychology is very subtly structured, much more so than in so many semi-caricatural (but interesting in their own way) films such as Scarface, White Heat, etc. For instance, the main character's fascination with the 'Gwen Allen' character is perhaps a symptom of a neurosis (he already has a girlfriend who is nicer and prettier than Gwen). His best friend Matt too, is perfectly characterized as the simple, naturally submissive guy. And so on. The film has some very weird aspects. One of them, the fact that the ugliest female character is showcased as a sex symbol, is, like I said earlier, perhaps accounted for by psychological issues of the main character, but his pal drools over her too, so I don't know. I think it is probably an example of how beauty standards of that time were different from today's. The other weird thing in the movie is that the police seems to be strangely inoperative. When Tom is in the hospital, for instance, there is no mention of him facing a murder charge. (The Public Enemy occupies the second position in Dale Thomajan's Top Ten Films of 1931.)

Rating: 83
(Third in my list of Best Movies of 1931.)

The Locket (2002) (TV)

This is about a young man who gets a job at a home for the elderly. He befriends one of the old ladies who live there, and they share their life problems.

The characters in this behave like they lived in the 19th century. I suppose in the U.S. there is an audience for this, and they live in the 19th century as well. The author of the novel it was based on has reportedly been taught important things by a reasonably rich person, first about life and being a rich person, and, five years later, about other things, you know, womanly things.

Rating: 30

The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003) (TV)

Based on the experiences of an employee at the firm that went down in 2001, for accounting fraud.

Well-made. Saw it with Italian dubbing, did not get all the dialogue.

Rating: 50

Min and Bill (1930)

Min is the owner of small hotel at a dock area. One of her guests is Bill, a fisherman. Min raises Nancy since her mother took off. Nancy works all day and has never gone to school. The police one day comes to inspect her condition and demands that she go to school. They offer to place her with a well-to-do family.

Well-made melodrama, with several memorable sequences. Although the plot is not exactly realistic, and leans toward sentimentality, the film is very realistic in ambience and mise-en-scene.

It's number 8 in Dale Thomajan's Top Nine for 1930.
Rating: 55 [I should see it again sometime, for a better understanding of the dialogue.]

Rain or Shine (1930)

A circus manager is in love with the circus owner, whom he promised to take care of when her father died. She is in love with another fellow. The circus is very close to bankruptcy. They stop at the town where the circus owner's sweetheart's family lives.

Entertaining throughout. What surprised me most was to see a kind of humor in some sequences which is similar to the Marx Brothers'. There are some thrilling action bits too.
(Number 5 in Dale Thomajan's Top Nine for 1930.)

Rating: 60

Her Man (1930)

Set in Havana, it tells of a prostitute's tense relationship with her pimp, and her love for a sailor.

This is a satisfying film as a whole, with several memorable sequences. A murder committed by the pimp in which we only see the dead body after a series of events is especially brilliant. The technical accomplishments of the camerawork are worthy of note, especially for a film this old and with an apparently minuscule budget. I remember a long traveling shot following a woman through crowded streets; also a waiter carrying a tray through a crowded barroom (it follows the tray from above). Its pre-code frankness is a valuable asset. I should see it again for a better understanding of the dialogue, though.
(Dale Thomajan's 3rd entry on his top nine list for 1930.)
Rating: 65

A Suprema Felicidade (2010)

Coming-of-age story about a boy growing up in Rio de Janeiro in the 40s and 50s. His parents are always fighting and he develops a bond with his maternal grandfather.

Operatic and excessive, with some terrible performances and several scenes which would benefit enormously from a reshooting (maybe even a rewriting in some), but on the other hand with a few impressive sequences, mostly set in low-class whorehouses or bars (the one in a square full of prostitutes in broad daylight is really amazing). There is a strange tension between its ostensibly nostalgic tone and the fact that the 'grandfather' character is himself nostalgic for a yet older era (the 10s). There are some fine performances in small roles that contrast with the not-so-good ones from most leading players; among these fine supporting players are: Maria Luísa Mendonça, César Cardadeiro (a Léaud lookalike, playing 'Cabeção'), Tammy di Calafiori, and Michel Joelsas.

Rating: 40

Morocco (1930)

A cabaret singer arrives in Morocco concurrently with a Foreign Legion soldier. The two fall in love with each other. A rich middle-aged painter also falls for the singer.

Exquisite melodrama, with an incalculably superb performance by Dietrich. Plot and mise-en-scene wonderfully fit each other. The ending is really disturbing. The only things that seem subject to debate are (1) the choice of musical number which seems strangely at odds with the remainder of the film (perhaps they were trying to cash in on the memory of The Blue Angel, a totally different film) and (2) an occasional tendency to excessive stylization which renders some close-up scenes of the heroine longer and more static than the diegesis would demand.

Rating: 80 (one of my 1930 favorites, ranked number 3)
This is the beginning of a project of mine, which will attempt to view all the films I haven't seen (and see again some that I have) from the Top Ten lists of critic Dale Thomajan. This is his number 1 for 1930.

The Wonderful Country (1959)

An American-born man living in Mexico and working as a hired gun to a local boss returns to the U.S. to take care of an arms deal. Things go wrong, and from then on he goes through a series of adventures.

Entertaining western in which, however, some things do not go quite well. The love story, for example, suffers from that mixture of titillation and puritanism which infected most American movies since the advent of the Hays code. And on top of that, London is such a bad actress. On another department, the director handles some scenes featuring extras in a strange static way which I am not sure I liked. The film seems to go for adventure alone, but it also makes interesting commentary about Mexico being politically more barbaric than the United States. Highlights: a good action sequence where a stagecoach and some Apaches are chased; the protagonist's two consecutive interviews with the two big-shot Mexican brothers (played by the brilliant actors Armendáriz and Mendoza). Mitchum delivers an understated performance (doesn't he always?) which I consider to be a notch above his average.

Rating: 55

Rosemary & Thyme: The Cup of Silence (2005) (TV)

Miss Boxer and Mrs. Thyme are hired to solve problems at a vineyard. It is located next to a hotel, at which the two garden specialists will stay. The hotel is owned by the brother of the vineyard's owner. A food critic (actually "lifestyle columnist") is staying at the hotel.

Well written whodunit. Very classical in style.

Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)

Several short films around a person or persons drinking coffee (or, in one of them, tea) and smoking cigarettes.

1. "Strange to Meet You": This one I had already seen, and hated, a response which hasn't changed upon this new viewing. (Originally released as a standalone short in 1986.)
2. "Twins": A waiter talks to two siblings about Elvis's lost twin brother and other strange topics.
It's kind of agreeable, but I honestly didn't quite see the point. (Rating: 45) (Originally released as a standalone short in 1989.)
3. "Somewhere in California": Two pop singers meet in a bar and do not quite get along.
The performances are interesting, but I wasn't exactly impressed by the whole idea. (Rating: 40)(Originally released as a standalone short in 1993.)
4. "Those things'll Kill Ya": Two elderly italo-Americans discuss smoking and diet in a bar.
Again, I find the whole thing a little too frivolous and bland. (Rating: 40)
5. "Renée": A beautiful woman is sitting alone in a bar, drinking coffee and smoking while browsing a magazine about guns. A waiter keeps pestering her with his unwanted solicitude.
Now, this one is quite intriguing and enigmatic. (Rating: 50)
6. "No Problem": Two friends meet in a bar and one of them repeatedly suggests that there's some problem in the other one's life that he isn't telling him.
Slightly annoying. (Rating: 35)
7. "Cousins": A movie star, in between takes, receives the visit of her punkish cousin.
Bittersweet humor, acute psychological observation, and two respectable performances by the same actress. (Rating: 65)
8. "Cousins?": Two English actors meet, on the insistent request of one of them, who has done some genealogical research about the two of them.
A masterpiece of devilish humor about Hollywood and hurt feelings. And a chance to see its two leading players at their best. (Rating: 86)
9. "Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil": A guy and a girl (siblings?) talk about the device of the title, assembled by the former. He demonstrates it in action.
Back to the slightly agreeable/slightly annoying generic weirdness. (Rating: 40)
10. "Delirium": Two rappers meet in a bar and are joined by a celebrity slightly affected by his excessive caffeine ingestion.
Badly flawed and unfunny. (Rating: 15)
11. "Champagne": Two nostalgic senior citizens sit and evoke old times.
The actors are brilliant, but the text is not so good. (Rating: 45)

(Final observation: "Cousins?" joins my list of favorites; it is in the 2nd position in 2003)

Rosemary & Thyme: Up the Garden Path (2004) (TV)

A gardening competition is the background for this episode. The emphasis in this one is not on complexity of plot, but on the sheer entertainment value of everything that comes with the series concept, that is, landscape, dialogue seasoned with intelligent humor, and a notion -- which is perhaps most akin to the British culture -- that death may be kept at bay even (or rather, especially) when one is surrounded by it all the time.

Antichrist (2009)

After a terrible loss, couple retreat into their secluded house in the woods for recovery. Do you think it works? Neither did I.

What first shocked me was that its premise (and initial sequence) is nearly identical to 1973's unsurpassable masterpiece Don't Look Now. The whole film is immersed in structures which populated most of Bergman's films after 1966 (maybe even before that, but I simply haven't seen all those films). One novelty about Antichrist is that it is much more no-holds-barred when it comes to physical manifestations of its characters, be they of a lusty or of a violent nature (or a combination thereof). Another film which is structurally related to it is The Shining, in the apparent connection of secludedness and madness and in some not so apparent ways too, as in the backstory of Her previous stay at the country house. The central duo of actors do a terrific job, and I would go as far as saying that they would make viewing the film justifiable even if there were no other compensations. One particularity which sets this film apart from its filmic relatives is the choice of the female as the mad character, a fact which lends it some novelty and thus makes it interesting. It is a distinctively watchable film, especially at its really hallucinatory climax involving a driller, a metal weight, and a fox hole.

Rating: 55

Rosemary & Thyme: Swords into Ploughshares (2004) (TV)

This, the 7th episode of the second season, is a very well concocted mystery tale. A good summary (complete with spoilers) and some comments are provided by Christopher Mulrooney in here.

Comme une image (2004)

English titles: Look at Me; Like an Image.

A plump adolescent girl suffers from low self-esteem, made worse by the egocentric behavior of her father, a famous writer. She meets a young man of Arab ethnicity who becomes interested in her. Her vocal coach is married to another writer, who becomes sort of best friends with the girl's father.

An intelligent film about how the images one makes of others and of oneself are a basic driving force in human behavior. The film succeeds in achieving an overall psychological verisimilitude, but some flaws are nevertheless quite evident. For example, some characters are pretty much one-note tunes, so to speak. This is most conspicuous in the young singer's father, but it is also visible in his assistant, who is made to behave invariably in a self-humiliating way due to a debt of gratitude towards his employer. This character was not very believable, especially as his past as a political activist affords different expectations about him. There is also a verisimilitude problem in the portrayal of television literary shows, which in the film resemble a popular carnival ball (carnival the holiday, not the amusement park). I have seen a few of these literary shows and, really, they don't look anything like that. A little exaggeration is part of any satire but here the filmmakers are just being silly and snobbish. But perhaps the film's major problem is that it has too many subplots.

Rating: 63

Boleiros - Era uma Vez o Futebol... (1998)

A group of retired soccer players gets together and recollect old stories involving soccer. One story features a soccer instructor who encounters a mysterious boy who is a soccer genius. Another storyteller recalls the time when he had just arrived in São Paulo and had to stay in the same bedroom with a star player who was also a womanizer. Another story concerns an evening in the life of a rising player who is considering playing for an Italian team. Yet another one is about a reporter who wants to interview a formerly famous player who is rumored to be facing financial troubles.

A faithful account of the human side of soccer, as it was before. There is humor and there is pathos, sometimes inextricably mixed. An important film for Brazilians, and even more so for those who live in São Paulo.

Rating: 57

Crna macka, beli macor (1998)

English title: Black Cat, White Cat.

A man forces his son to marry a gangster's sister in order to settle a debt.

The images are a catalogue of bizarreness. This translates into a spiritual panel of central Europe, somewhat diluted into a plot which is not devoid of childishness.

Rating: 55

Kedma (2002)

In 1948, days before the creation of the state of Israel, some immigrants arrive to its territory, coming from Europe. They are immediately immersed in the conflict with the Arabs, and with the British.

It has interesting moments, but they mostly rely on theatrical bursts which are interspersed with slow-paced and poorly filmed action.

Rating: 41

Masterminds (1997)

A smart but rebellious kid gets trapped in a school when it is seized by kidnappers.

It is enjoyable on a scene-by-scene basis, thanks to an eventful script, and is nicely wrapped up by a smart ending. On the whole, slightly interesting.

Rating: 50

Duplicity (2009)

A complicated plot involving industrial espionage. Two spies - a man and a woman - team up in a plan to fool two competing companies.

A lot of cerebral work went into this, leaving realism behind, although nothing exactly absurd from the strictly logical angle happens, to my notice anyway. If you squeeze it for its essence, not much comes out, and I guess what does is something like "love means trust" or "even spies fall in love", or a little of both. The film tries a compromise between this kind of thing and a pervasive belief that there is a supreme beauty about these outsmarting games and the plot twists they entail. House Games was possibly the final word about that, with a difference that it had a psychoanalytic side to it which is completely lacking here. Gilroy's creative pattern seems pretty much discernible by this and his previous film, and I suspect that he may be comfortably filed under the guilty pleasure tag, unfortunately with guilt largely outweighing pleasure.

Rating: 45

Stella (2008)

A girl's life. Her parents own a bar and an adjoining hotel. They live there. She has difficulties at school and makes a friend from a very different social environment.

I can't find much to say about this film. The protagonist, a girl around 10 years old, wears the same listless expression throughout the film. When she is happy, the soundtrack bursts into pop songs from the 70's, the decade when the action is set. The point of the film seems to be exposing the sordid milieu in which the protagonist lives and her growing awareness of a vaster world to which she must endeavor to adapt. There are fine moments in it, although dullness is the predominant note. The supporting performances are, on the other hand, excellent, a special mention going to Rocher as the protagonist's mother.

Rating: 45

Guns of the Magnificent Seven (1969)

A Mexican peasant leader (who is not a peasant at all - don't ask) is imprisoned. One peasant hires an American to rescue him from jail. The latter hires in turn six men to help him do the job.

Watchable yet hackneyed action spectacle in the Mexican-Western subgenre.

Rating: 39

Rosemary & Thyme: Arabica and the Early Spider (2003) (TV)

The two absurd detectives come across another absurd crime. But the episode is light-minded and the leading characters are congenial.

Two Lovers (2008)

(Reportedly) loosely based on Dostoevsky's short story "White Nights" (1848).

A young man with suicidal tendencies meets an attractive young woman who lives next door to him. She is having an affair with a married man. Concurrently to all that, the young man's parents try to set him up with another young woman, whose family is about to become entangled with his in a businesslike fashion.

Genetic tests motivates break-ups, and one is either "bipolar" or "attention-deficit" afflicted. Talented filmmaker Gray remains interesting in this, though not as much, perhaps, as in his previous one, the superb We Own the Night. Both films (and also Little Odessa and The Yards) are about the weight of families on individuals, and about other things too. The musical score is good. Phoenix gives a superb, fully convincing performance.

Rating: 68

I Bergmans regi (2003) (TV)

This is the "making of" video of Saraband. Other than a surprisingly energetic disposition for his age, there is nothing about Bergman or anyone or anything else in this film that striked me as worthy of note.

Saraband (2003) (TV)

A recently widowed cellist takes his 19-year old daughter as a pupil. His estranged father lives near him and they hate each other. The daughter begins to feel suffocated by her father's possessiveness. Her grandfather's ex-wife comes to visit.

There was a soapish side to Bergman which began to become more evident in his later period. His statement of admiration for the TV show "Dallas" reveals beyond a doubt this side of his artistic personality. In Saraband, this is the only side of him we see. It is obviously better made than the average TV soap opera, but it is a soap opera nonetheless.

Rating: 45

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (2008)

English title: The Baader Meinhof Complex.

Dramatic film based on the real story of a German terrorist group which operated in the seventies in Germany.

Well made, informative and easy to watch.

This film would make a nice double-bill with the one I watched just before it (quite by accident).

Rating: 63

The Weather Underground (2002)

Documentary about a subversive group in the U.S.A. The film abides by the standard pattern of documentaries, with news and other documentaries footage, interviews and even some expressive montages. It is professionally done and lets its contents speak for itself, revealing how dramatic and interesting recent U.S. history is.

Les herbes folles (2009)

English title: Wild Grass.

A woman has her purse stolen. A man finds her wallet in a parking lot. The two develop a problematic relationship.

Utter and irredeemable garbage.

Rating: 5

Wheel of Time (2003)

Documentary about a buddhist ceremony. Lots of pilgrims and their sacrificial devotion. Rituals. A spiritual leader. Mountains and deserts, then a second installment in Austria.

Good to know there are people into this sort of thing.

Tenzin Gyatso states that each person is the center of the universe. Herzog does not seem to understand that concept, but then again, maybe he really is an eccentric.

Rosemary & Thyme: And No Birds Sing (2003) (TV)

This is the first episode of a TV series. The idea behind it is hilarious, a true genius find. Two middle-aged women, down in their luck, one a spinster (too bad this word has fallen out of fashion), the other just left by her husband, become acquainted by accident, and both are interested in gardens, one by profession (she is a plant pathologist), the other by inclination. They stumble upon a possible crime and further possible foul play at the house where one of them was asked to give some scientific advise about some sick trees. So, they investigate it, and the notion of two nosy ladies with no detective experience, being just curious about matters wich are not their concern at all, is frankly hilarious. This particular episode, besides successfully introducing the basic idea of the series (presumably; it is the only episode I have seen) and the main characters, revolves around a plot which has much absurdity in its premise and development, and that is also hilarious. All this is played in a completely straight-faced way, and I am not sure I like that. The two leading actresses (I hear this is another word which has fallen out of favor in mainstream circles) fit their respective parts, as they say, like gloves (or is it the other way around?).

Gake no ue no Ponyo (2008)

English titles: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea; Ponyo on the Cliff; Ponyo.

A 10-year-old boy who lives in a house near the sea captures a strange fish. It escaped from an underwater capsule governed by its father, a strange aquatic humanoid. The fish's escape unleashes the forces of nature in the form of a tsunami. The boy, his mother, and the girl into which the fish has morphed, go through a series of adventures stemming from this situation.

Engaging and visually pleasant fantastic adventure. Its writer/director says he was inspired by the 90's animation "The Little Mermaid". This version, however, is oriented to the universe of little kids. It is interesting how the film contrasts and combines the terrestrial world which represents reality and the aquatic world which represents fantasy.

Rating: 60

Bonanza: The Miracle Maker (1962) (TV)

Hoss suffers an accident while riding on a carriage with a lady and her father. The old man dies, and the woman cannot walk. Hoss brings a faith healer to see her after the doctors confess their inability to cure her.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

An oceanographic crew loses one of its members, eaten by a shark. They set up a new expedition to hunt said shark. A new member is added: the leader's possible biological son.

I just do not dig this filmmaker anymore. He started to lose me in the film before this one, and lost me completely in the film after this one. I guess he must please lovers of style for style's sake. His sense of humor in this film is sophomoric, and I guess if he entered a time machine into the sixties he would succeed in getting a TV sitcom spin-off greenlighted.

Rating: 36

Bonanza: The Long Night (1962) (TV)

Adam has a $10,000 check with him. Two guys broke out from jail. One of them makes Adam exchange clothes with him. The posse is led to believe that Adam is the escaped convict.

Puerto Vallarta Squeeze (2004)

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. A writer in deep need of money accepts to drive a man to the border. The writer may or may not know that said man just murdered two people. The writer's girlfriend insists on riding with them.

More than acceptable thriller, well made and entertaining. There is nothing really new here, the contradictions and perversities of the American foreign policy in the 60's and 70's are embodied in the hitman, sort of.

Rating: 58

Bonanza: The Mountain Girl (1962) (TV)

Little Joe promises to a dying rancher that he will see that his granddaughter gets in touch with her rich relatives, whom she has never seen.

Bolivia (2001)

A Bolivian immigrant in Buenos Aires gets a job at a bar. He is an illegal worker and a constant victim of xenophobia.

Watchable, well acted, drama about the tense environment of a bar in a country affected by an economic crisis. The film is short and the plot is very predictable.

Rating: 46

Bonanza: Inger, My Love (1962) (TV)

A flashback to when Ben, a penniless widower with a young son, met Hoss's future mother and they fell in love with each other.

Bonanza: The Dowry (1962) (TV)

Little Joe witnesses the hold-up of the stagecoach he is in. A wounded passenger is taken to the Ponderosa, along with his daughter and her fiancé. The daughter's dowry is stolen by the robbers. Ben and his sons discover some monkey business on both marrying sides.

An interesting premise, but no so well worked out.

Bonanza: Blessed Are They (1962) (TV)

The inhabitants of Virginia City elect Ben as responsible for trying to end the feud between two local families. A new minister arrives who is instrumental in that enterprise.

This one was hard to swallow. It felt like Fantasy Island, with the supernatural minister as Mr. Rourke.

Bellamy (2009)

A retired police commissioner, while on vacation, does a private investigation about a possible murder and insurance scam. Concurrently, he lodges his irresponsible brother with him.

Watchable psychological (and criminal) drama, that offers two more or less independent subplots. The mise en scène is perfect, and so is the acting, but the screenplay is conventional and bland, and doesn't deliver much excitement. As Christopher Mulrooney pointed out, the crime is similar to the one in Nabokov's Despair.

Rating: 55

The Blues: Piano Blues (2003) (TV)

A series of interviews, with some performances thrown in. A feel-good documentary, which openly disregards musical labels and does not have a predominantly didactic nature.

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)

A kindergarten teacher faces a series of situations with which she deals in a humorous, nonchalant way. Her disposition contrasts with that of her new driving instructor, an uptight, biggoted guy.

Consistently watchable, albeit a little unfocused. The configuration of the characters defies credibility at a few instances, and I will mention two. Firstly, it struck me as odd that Stravinsky's "Firebird" is such a natural and accessible topic of conversation among these characters. It does not fit with any of the cultural environments I have encountered, but then again I do not live in England, and am not the socially wisest person around. Secondly, the driving instructor's argumentation goes all the range from "multiculturalism is non-culturalism" to "the height plus the depth of [a certain American monument] makes 666", and I think this is too wide a range. The first of these statements could fit into an intellectual's mouth, the second one suggests an altogether different cultural background.
Leigh seems to be taking up from another angle the do-gooders theme from Vera Drake. In both, it is suggested that it is hard or impossible to do good to other people, the results being frequently the opposite of the intended. In Happy-Go-Lovely this is examined in conjunction with the theme of happiness as related to attitude as opposed to circumstances. This is of the utmost interest. A film that reportedly deals with this theme, and I have never had the opportunity of seeing, is The Crazy-Quilt (1966).

Rating: 56

Bonanza: The Crucible (1962) (TV)

Adam is left for dead in the desert by two criminals. He is saved by a miner whose camp he runs into. But this proves to be another life endangering event for Adam.

The Blues: The Soul of a Man (2003) (TV)

Second episode. Quite well done, and ten times better than the first episode. The modern covers are mostly repulsive, one sure exception being the one by Los Lobos. To be quite honest, I am not greatly attracted to blues music, although there is a certain energy to it that I find appealing. That being said, Skip James seems to transcend the genre and stand out as a fine composer and performer.

Bonanza: The Gamble (1962) (TV)

The Cartwrights spend the night in a strange town after a cattle sell. They are framed in a robbery and murder.

Bonanza: Look to the Stars (1962) (TV)

The famous real-life scientist who won a Nobel prize for his measurement of the velocity of light is the protagonist here as a teenager, in a plot revolving around racism in Virginia City.

Prokofieff: Sonata #7, Op. 83, 3rd Movement: precipitato

This is a music video of a performance by Misha Dichter, featuring multiple screens and assorted visual resources.

Bonanza: The Lawmaker (1962) (TV)

Sheriff Coffee is injured and has to go out of town for a surgery. The town nominates a replacement sheriff who becomes authoritarian and abusive.

Miséricorde (1994) (TV)

*SPOILERS*
In the sixties, Marie, a girl studying in a catholic school, is very fond of a nun teacher, who instills religious inclinations in her. One day the local priest, after hearing her confession, summons her to his house. When she is there he tries to make sexual advances on her, but she flees. She grows up and decides to become a nun because Jesus "is the most perfect of men", as her old teacher used to say. Her father is sad with the idea; he is not very fond of the Church. She joins the carolians (sorry if this the wrong word). Her convent is run by a stern and intolerant mother superior. Marie makes friends with Edith, who became a nun against her will, because she is poor and her mother is a devout catholic. The mother superior constantly accuses Marie of pride. Marie becomes a teacher and is loved by her students. One day Marie and Edith make a trip to the seaside to do some work there and over there Marie reencounters her old teacher of whom she was fond as a child. They get acquainted with a fisherman who becomes very lusty toward Marie (he does not know they are nuns). She rejects his advances. One evening Edith goes out to fetch something in the market and runs into the fisherman, who invites her to his boat. There they have sex. Marie goes out to look for Edith and witnesses her having sex. She becomes hostile toward Edith, who is mixed up and remorseful over her act. They decide to return to the convent. Edith becomes increasingly withdrawn and begins to lose her sanity. Marie starts doing volunteer work in a seedy side of town, and gets acquainted with a young layman who also does volunteer work; he falls in love with her. They start seeing each other, and Marie has doubts about her religious career. Edith becomes increasingly worse and one day throws herself from an upper balcony, killing herself. Marie quits the order, and marries her boyfriend. A final caption explains that her marriage lasted three years and they had no kids. Marie became a lay charity worker in China or one of those places.

Well-made yet predictable drama about modern nuns.

Rating: 50

La colère des dieux (2003)

English title: Anger of the Gods.

*SPOILERS*
An elderly king is terminally sick and sends for his son and for his brother. The son wants the throne for himself, the brother settles for a position in the government. The new ruler, while visiting one of the kingdom's villages, covets a young woman who lives there. He takes her for a wife, even though the woman is already engaged to a local man. She has a baby who is considered the natural heir to the throne. A prophet tells the king that the boy will bring bad luck to him. The king is told by an oracle of sorts (I do not remember it well) that the kid is really the son of his wife's former fiancé. The wife and the kid, alerted by the king's uncle, flee the palace. They meet up with her ex-fiancé. The king tracks the two lovers down and kills them but cannot find the kid. The kid grows up and, after acquiring powers from a mystical eagle, challenges the king and kills him, becoming the new king. Finally, he and his people perish under the white colonizers. He then remembers that he killed the eagle who bestowed him its three powers (metamorphosing, invisibility, and I do not remember the third one), and the agonizing eagle, back in its original human form, tells him that he did not give him the fourth power (what is it?) and it would cost him in the future. The film ends with the queen defining power: "First, not caring about what others think. Second, making others care about what you think."

A well-made cinematic fable in the ancient African style (the credits do not mention any pre-existent story as a source).

Rating: 50

The Blues: Feel Like Going Home (2003) (TV)

First part of a documentary series. Old footage and interviews with older American players are the only things in the film worth anything. I hated all the African section, not enlightening at all, and judging from what the film presents I'd say there is no connection between the blues and African music, although the film says just the opposite. The African music we hear in it is of Arabic influence, and it is obvious that occasional blues elements in some performances may be due to the fact that the African players have heard blues recordings before! What kind of an investigation is that?

Bonanza: The Guilty (1962) (TV)

A friend of Ben's is threatened by a man who has just been released from prison. Ben's friend was the one who put him there.

Daisy Kenyon (1947)

Daisy Kenyon is a graphic artist and is having an affair with a married lawyer. Concurrently to that, she is courted by a former boat designer who is a widower and has just returned from the war.

Insipid melodrama, well made but compromised by a plot line about which it is hard to develop a sustained interest. A curious fact which I am apparently alone in acknowledging is that the obvious casting choice for the bad wife and the good mistress would seem to have been the reverse of the chosen one. But then again, Crawford was systematically cast in positive roles early in her career, until one day it apparently dawned on people that she had one of the most unpleasant faces in Hollywood, and she from then on was predominantly cast in villain roles. Another interesting thing is that this is a melodrama in which a character actually says the word "melodrama", which for me is a sign of conflicted personality or self-consciousness. A usual complaint is that the ending was constrained by the moral codes of the time; the real problem, however, is that one does not really care whether it ends one way or the other.

Rating: 44

Bonanza: The Wooing of Abigail Jones (1962) (TV)

One of the Ponderosa's employees wants to marry a local spinster, but is turned down. The Cartwright boys give him a hand, with comical results.

Not one of the best, and this season is surely turning out to be very weak. Good for a few laughs, still.

Down to the Sea in Ships (1949)

A whaling ship's captain wants to make one last trip before retirement, during which his grandson will be trained for future captainhood himself. Another man, who has recently been licensed as a captain will go along as first mate.

Entertaining sea adventure, about the process of becoming an adult. Also prominent is the theme of "breaking the law". Early in the film, a schoolmaster breaks the law in favor of the old captain; later in the film, the old captain won't break the law in favor of his grandson, and then of the first mate. The implicit question the film never poses is: is there a double standard here?

Rating: 58

Xia dao Gao Fei (1992)

English title: Full Contact.

A man and his brothers, pressured by debt, team up with a nasty gang in an arms heist. He is betrayed.

Violent and over-the-top thriller, a variation of Westlake (as Stark)'s "The Hunter" (filmed as Point Blank and Payback). Here it is told from the beginning, though, and in strict chronological order. Completely unintellectual, in a comic-book-ish way, and competently directed for maximum effectiveness.

Rating: 51

Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

A fantasy fiction about the shooting of Nosferatu, em 1921, according to which its title character was played by a real vampire.

A silly film, with an uninspired and repetitive script.

Rating: 30

Tony Rome (1967)

A drunken underage girl sleeping in a sleazy hotel room is the starting point of a complicated chain of events involving a missing jewel, murder, and family members with something to hide. A private detective tries to get to the bottom of it in the sunny state of Florida.

One-liners that keep coming, a tightly woven plot, nice locations. The film resists a unified analysis, it seems to mean nothing. One scene, however, sticks to mind: Rome's physical assault at a homosexual drug dealer. It is a heavily moralizing scene, which prompts an immediate reaction from the spectator. The fact that the dealer is a homosexual is perhaps without signification (but it is intriguing that the next year some key participants in this film would make The Detective, in which a homosexual appears as an innocent victim -- bad conscience?), and it will be disregarded for the sake of simplicity. Let us remember that the aggression scene is preceded by that of a junkie stripper, already feeling the anxiety of abstinence, entering the home of the dealer; she hands him all her money, and asks for "all it can buy". After the aggression Rome drops some of the product in a vase, and later he will snitch on the dealer to his cop friend. The dealer is thus portrayed as an absolute villain. Some will no doubt applaud the whole position of the film, and will think nothing of it. Those in turn who will instinctively raise a doubt will try to make a connectin with the rest of the movie. In fact, this connection is easy to make, because the consumption of a different kind of drug is present at various points in the movie, and in fact it is present in its very starting point. I am of course talking about alcohol. The effects of alcohol are felt by the young woman who is found sleeping at the hotel after having run away from home. Alcohol abuse is here an important element of the plot and points to a family dysfunction. But there is no questioning of the legal status of the commerce of liquor, and the seller is never seen. When all the character's family problems are solved, it is implicit that alcohol will no longer be a problem. The excessive behavior of that character is contrasted with the protagonist's "civilized" habit of drinking, which matches that of his young divorcee friend. Alcohol is presented as a healthy habit, may be drunk at all hours, and at one scene is preferred over coffee. It provides the film with light humor, and an atmosphere of charm and sexiness (gin for him, vodka for her). A very positive, "cool" view. Addiction is never mentioned, neither for the "civilized" drinkers nor for the "reckless" one. This contrasts with the addiction to gambling, which is a prominent feature of the protagonist, and plays an important role on his unstable love life. I think by now the subjacent pro-liquor ideology of the film has become evident. Of course, the liquor industry does not see its competitors with friendly eyes, which explains the virulent attack on the drug dealer, and the mild reproach at the gambling habit. This film has a meaning after all.

Rating: 60

Bonanza: The Jacknife (1962) (TV)

Adam, while looking for cattle rustlers, comes across a wounded man and helps him. He stays with his family for a few days and gets suspicious.

While some episodes have been undisputably brilliant, the bulk of this show must be taken with great reservations due to the disturbing ideology that pervades it. The episodes are structured in such a way as to make the Cartwrights a breed apart relatively to the rest of the world; everyone else is either made to look evil or made to look good only inasmuch as they conform to a standard which is set by the Cartwrights.

Bonanza: Gift of Water (1962) (TV)

The Cartwrights help a rancher find water in a period of drought.

Bonanza: The Ride (1962) (TV)

So-so episode where Adam witnesses a murder and recognizes the murderer, although he was wearing a hood. He then tries to prove it was him.

Chronicle of a Disappearance (1996)

In the first act, we see a series of vignettes depicting the everyday life of Palestinians living in Israel. This is followed by a very threadbare storyline of a misplaced walkie-talkie which is used to confound the Israeli police. More vignettes, some involving the police, some involving Palestinians, follow.

There is a likeable quality about this guy, a rigor of form combined with a spontaneity of discourse, which unfortunately are not enough to dispell the dullness which pervades his films (the two of them I have seen, that is).

Rating: 44

Big (1988)

A 13 year old kid wishes he were bigger, and then his body is transformed overnight into that of an adult.

The central attraction of this is, I suppose, the spectacle of an adult actor playing a child. To make this a "regular" fiction film, they have to fill it with additional aspects, such as the concept of a completely innocent man who is thought to be a big threat and a genius (more or less the same concept of Being There). The ideology of the film goes along the lines of kids = playing = industrial toys. As one sees, everything revolves around consuming, always. The key moment of the film is when 'Baskin' asks (about a toy which consists of a building which turns into a robot): "Why is this any fun?" This is key because it is where the film internalizes its spectator's reaction to most of it.

Rating: 41

Bonanza: The Storm (1962) (TV)

Torturing episode about a sick young woman who visits the Ponderosa with her father. She and Joe fall in love with each other.

Bonanza: The Auld Sod (1962) (TV)

Weak episode in which a woman comes from Ireland to visit her son. She thinks that he is the owner of the Ponderosa but in reality he is the town drunk.

Bonanza: The Tall Stranger (1962) (TV)

Weak episode in which Hoss wants to marry a woman who dumps him for another man who turns out to be a crook.

Flood (2007) (TV)

About a tidal wave that floods London.

Weak yet delivers a few of the basic thrills this kind of spectacle usually does.

Rating: 33

Bonanza: The Lady from Baltimore (1962) (TV)

Weak episode in which a woman wants to set up a marriage between her daughter and Little Joe.

Bonanza: The Tin Badge (1961)

In this one, Little Joe gets a job as sheriff; it's a set up.

Weak.

The Women (1939)

A woman finds out that her husband is having an affair with a shopgirl and files for divorce. Her gossiping female friends are going through problems of their own.

In Borges' The Garden of Forking Paths, we read the following exchange:
_"In a riddle whose answer is chess, what is the only prohibited word?"
I thought a moment and replied, "The word chess."_

Now, not every work of fiction qualifies as an enigma, and for a simple reason: many are simply too straightforward in their intentions. But I think the reasoning of that character from Borges still applies in those cases. Take The Women, for example. By design, there is no male character in it. And yet, men are in the center of every deed and utterance displayed in it. This original concept is the film's strength, above its datedness (which is somewhat debatable, since it has been recently remade, I do not know how faithfully), and its classist (the villain is the proletarian) and sexist (the "good" wife's victory in the end means her taking her husband back) morals.

Rating: 57

Bonanza: The Frenchman (1961) (TV)

A French poet and his sister stay as guests at the Ponderosa. Bad episode.

Bon voyage (2003)

World War II. German invasion of France. A movie actress. Her ex-lover, a writer, takes the blame for her crime. A scientist trying to smuggle heavy water out of France. His female assistant. A cellmate of the screenwriter. A cabinet minister who is the actress's present lover. A reporter who is a German spy. They all meet in Bordeaux (or a nearby town, I am not sure).

Cinematic comic-book. Watchable, barely.

Rating: 39

Bonanza: Day of the Dragon (1961) (TV)

Chinese slave. Discussions about freedom. Mild complexity of plot. Mild suspense. OK episode.

Bonanza: Gabrielle (1961) (TV)

Blind child. Sentimentalism.

Bonanza: The Horse Breaker (1961) (TV)

Weak episode.

Bonanza: Springtime (1961) (TV)

Light humor in a so-so episode.

Sale comme un ange (1991)

English title: Dirty Like an Angel.

A cop covets his partner's wife. He assigns the partner a surveillance job so he can have free access to the woman.

The romance between a semi-brutish policeman and his partner's semi-moronic wife. Pointless, dull sexual drama with a stereotypical view of the police and of gender psychology.

Rating: 30

Bonanza: The Friendship (1961) (TV)

Not bad, but a little too predictable.

Bonanza: The Countess (1961) (TV)

Memorable episode.

Bonanza: The Smiler (1961) (TV)

Unlikely plot.

Bonanza: The Lonely House (1961) (TV)

One of the better episodes, with an intelligent teleplay.

Bonanza: The Honor of Cochise (1961) (TV)

Abysmally disagreeable episode. The kind of thing a guilty conscience would produce.

Shopgirl (2005)

Second viewing. I like it now. I didn't on my first viewing.

Here's what I wrote then (on April 28, 2007):

"Synopsis: A shop attendant at a department store begins a relationship with a
young man, who then follows a rock band on a tour. Meanwhile she meets a middle
aged rich man who wants her for fucking, and gives her expensive gifts.
Appraisal: Poorly written, often ridiculous drama that has an above average
leading duo of young performers and a delightful supporting performance (her
bimbo friend).
Rating: 12"

The synopsis is OK, but I can only guess why I thought it was "poorly written, often ridiculous" and why I thought it was a "drama" (well, that part is controversial, perhaps). The remarks about the performances were correct, though. The only explanation I can find for my negative comments (other than deeply encroached neuroses or plain stupidity) is that a fine screenplay badly directed is not so easy to distinguish from a bad screenplay well directed.

New Rating: 55

Observation: I saw it dubbed this time (but checked out some of the dialogue on paper.)

Tigerland (2000)

A bunch of guys undergoing training for the Vietnam war. They are sent to a place called Tigerland where they simulate real combat and its environment. The main character is a rebellious type who "just wants to stay alive" and does not want to be sent to Vietnam.

Clearly one of the most implausible military-themed movies ever made, and possibly a little unsound too, if you believe that fiction can only go so far in ignoring the basic limitations of an individual inside an organization (as well as the limits of said organization). Why don't they make a film about the guys who went to prison for refusing to comply to draft? I think that would be a lot more interesting than this.

Rating: 45

Bonanza: Broken Ballad (1961) (TV)

This show's worse episodes have an interesting kitschy (or campy) side to them.

Aro Tolbukhin: en la mente del asesino (2002)

English title: Aro Tolbukhin: in the mind of a killer.

Some documentary makers investigate the past life of a serial killer in Guatemala.

Even though it employs the trendy (and dull) narrative technique of mixing straightforward dramatization and pseudocumentary, it cannot hide its silly melodramatic essence.

Rating: 25

Bonanza: Land Grab (1961) (TV)

Trespassers on the Ponderosa. A swindler sold them false deeds. Ben eventually manages everything well. The folks with the MST probably don't care much for these Bonanza reruns. I'd better watch all I can before they take over the country and ban them.

Bonanza: The Burma Rarity (1961) (TV)

An emerald, two swindlers, a widow who is interested in Ben. Enough for another comedy of errors.

The Modern World: Ten Great Writers - T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land' (1988) (TV)

Some pretty good actors reciting the poem (a bad one, if you ask me), some images that they found fitting, and some other speakers whose contributions range from insightful to parroting.

Bonanza: The Many Faces of Gideon Flinch (1961) (TV)

Very good comedy of errors.

Bonanza: The Dream Riders (1961) (TV)

Balloonism and bank robbing.

Bonanza: Elizabeth, My Love (1961) (TV)

Annoying episode.

Bonanza: The Secret (1961) (TV)

*SPOILERS*

Fatally compromised by its premise, which relies on a triple coincidence consisting not only in the real culprit being left handed and having a horse like Joe's, but, more improbably, in that the victim has told her father that she was seeing Joe, of all people, for some unexplained reason.

Bonanza: The Infernal Machine (1961) (TV)

Great episode about an inventor who wants to develop an automobile. Great comedy fun, one of the best episodes.

Robin Hood (2010)

*SPOILERS*

A prequel to the legend, in which Robin, after having fought in the Crusades with king Richard, must fight against the French who, thanks to a conspiracy between the new king's secretary and the French king, are ready to invade England.

A horrible movie. There is hardly an enjoyable moment in it. (Well, perhaps a shot or two of some beautiful woods.) The plot is downright unappealing (and at times makes little or no sense), told in the pace that kills (of boredom), with characters I couldn't care less for. Among the "pearls", in random order: Robin feels bad about the slaughter of poor Muslim children; Marian fights as a soldier; Robin, who was an abandoned child, has a "feeling" he will find out about his origins in Nottingham, and bingo: he does, and his father was an important chap too; the bad guys, who are in a national plot, choose to chase after Robin in Nottingham, who by then has little or no bearing on said plot; probably more stuff, but I don't want to go on recollecting.

Rating: 25

Bonanza: Sam Hill (1961) (TV)

*SPOILERS*
This was meant to spin a different show off, but didn't. It is plainly the best Bonanza episode so far, and one of the greatest things ever in television. My sixth sense tells me that this must have been based on previous material, either from literature or from folklore. I may be wrong, of course, and there is no actual reference to an external source anywhere that I have seen. Then all the credit should go to the screenwriter (well, some of it to the director as well), who happens to be the show's creator. If anyone recognizes this to be a version of anything from literature or tradition, please tell me. It is the story of a man who visits his mother's grave once a year and won't sell the land she is buried in. In one of these visits he encounters his father, who had abandoned him in his early childhood. The father is a drunkard and sells the land to a colonel whom Sam dislikes. It turns out this colonel is responsible for Sam's mother, whom he coveted. There is also a tree brought from the Orient which grows by her grave, and thrives thanks to a subterranean hot air current.

I rank this as a film, and place it among my favorites of that year (15th entry).
Rating: 72

Bonanza: The Thunderhead Swindle (1961)

Great episode.

The Hunted (2003)

A soldier got a little crazy after fighting in Bosnia. He now is a protector of wild animals and kills the men who hunt them. His former trainer is summoned to hunt him down.

Ridiculously juvenile variation of First Blood, with some watchable action sequences.

Rating: 37

Bonanza: The Rival (1961) (TV)

Interesting episode.

Bonanza: Cutthroat Junction (1961) (TV)

Bad episode.

Bonanza: The Gift (1961) (TV)

Bad episode.

Bonanza: The Duke (1961) (TV)

Good episode, but one detail is very intriguing: what in the Duke provoked women's laughter? In my wild guess, this is an example of metaphoric drama. The kiss which preceded the laughter stands for something else, which television would not be allowed to show.

It Runs in the Family (2003)

Three generations of family members interact in this dramatic comedy.

The film's point seems to be showing how character gets diluted over the generations. The virile and headstrong grandfather is followed by the responsible yet far too disoriented paterfamilias, who in turn is followed by an irresponsible elder son and a borderline autistic younger son. Watchable film, done in a formulaic manner, mostly devoid of excitement or inventivity.

Rating: 45

Bonanza: The Dark Gate (1961) (TV)

The way movies and TV handle the theme of mental illness always fascinates me. In this episode, evil is seen as a mere symptom of it. Of course, the affected man's behavior is not consistent with any real cases of catalogged psychopathies, but that's not the point (or rather, maybe it is just that what makes these fictions so appealing).

Comes a Horseman (1978)

A small rancher establishes a professional, and then intimate, partnership with the guy who just bought the ranch adjacent to hers. They both face a double assault from a big rancher and from an oil tycoon.

The ending is monstrous, as everyone knows. What comes before it is not without merit, but for me the whole film was less than engaging.

Rating: 40

Bonanza: The Rescue (1961) (TV)

Keywords: rustlers / pinned down / reconciliation / moral superiority of Big Landowners / no women / Little Joe's smile gets carved on his face / Hoss's legendary appetite / Hop Sing is back from China / Ben gets an epic beating.

Bonanza: Vengeance (1961) (TV)

Infinite variations on the theme of accidental/self defense killings which entail passionate yet inappropriate responses from relatives/spouse of the deceased.

Bonanza: The Tax Collector (1961) (TV)

There is nothing an American hates more than a tax collector. Good old liberalism.

Bonanza: The Fugitive (1961) (TV)

Nothing like one Bonanza episode after another.

Bonanza: Bank Run (1961) (TV)

Unusually witty episode. A few scenes bearing no relation whatsoever with the main plot consist of Hoss' repeatedly encountering a mysterious lady, or rather, it's not her the second time but a considerably uglier woman. I wonder if in this there is the hand of a yet-to-become-famous director who has notabilized himself for a quantum of quirkiness.

Bonanza: The Spitfire (1961) (TV)

The Cartwrights versus a bloody mama.

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

A divorce lawyer falls in love with one of his clients.

Not an otherworldly masterpiece, but still it has elegance and wit in sufficient amounts.

Rating: 54

Malibu Beach Party (1940)

One of those cartoons featuring doubles for Hollywood stars. Magnificent.

Bonanza: The Bride (1961) (TV)

This show is an hymn to patriarchalism.

Bonanza: The Courtship (1961) (TV)

What happened in this one? Well, never mind.

Bonanza: The Blood Line (1960) (TV)

This show is an ode to private property.

Bonanza: The Ape (1960) (TV)

On it goes. Big landowners and their troubles.

The Piano Tuner of EarthQuakes (2005)

An opera singer is abducted by an evil scientist and taken to his castle at an uninhabited island. Once there he sents for a piano tuner to fix his music-generating automata.

Quite dull oneiric piece with some artistic visuals.

Rating: 33

Bonanza: Silent Thunder (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529654/

Bonanza: The Trail Gang (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529843/

http://cmulrooney.tripod.com/richjohn.html

Bonanza: The Last Viking (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529758/

http://cmulrooney.tripod.com/florea.html

Sketches of Frank Gehry (2005)

I am probably the least competent man in the world to give opinions about architecture, except, since buildings affect places that belong to all people, I am probably the most competent man in the world to give opinions about architecture. Anyway, being the favorite architect of Hollywood stars says much about someone. And the great and depressing truth that this documentary shows is that much of the world has become a cultural extension of Hollywood. One of the buildings is described as "an object from outer space that has descended upon the city" -- enough said.

Bonanza: The Savage (1960)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529816/

This is possibly the worst episode so far.

Lo sguardo di Michelangelo (2004)

English titles: The Gaze of Michelangelo; Michelangelo Eye to Eye.

Short film. It's just a guy contemplating and fondling a statue (the "Moses"), which is shot at different angles and distances.

Bonanza: Breed of Violence (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529513/

http://cmulrooney.tripod.com/florea.html

The Wild Blue Yonder (2005)

Footage of astronauts in a spaceship with no gravity, and of deep-sea exploration, plus interviews which space scientists, all of which are linked by a tale of an alien who came to Earth.

Not a serious movie.

Rating: 0

Le couperet (2005)

English title: The Ax.

A highly qualified engineer who lost his job and for more than two years has unsuccessfully tried to get a new one architects a plan to identify his competitors in the marketplace and kill them.

The plot has several implausibilities, but is sufficiently coherent to make possible a discussion of the consequences of the tyranny of financial capitalism over our society. It is not only a question of the inhumanity of the system, although this is the center of the film's concerns. But it argues further that replacing experts with inexpensive young professionals is bad for the companies, and in the long term for countries as well. These issues are not negligible, and the film is not without entertainment value.

Rating: 60

La demoiselle d'honneur (2004)

English title: The Bridesmaid.

A young man falls in love with a nutsy young woman, who says four acts are required from lovers in order to "prove" their love to each other.

This is like a slow-paced "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" episode, and has been smartly (and perhaps too severely) criticized at the "Hated It" section of IMDb's User Comments. One thing is sure, insanity -- because it allows for reckless behavior from the protagonists -- attenuates suspense, and identification. But there are interesting things in it that sort of make up for those absences. The film can perhaps best be savored as a psychological study of the oedipal character. One may notice points of contact with classics such as Rope and Strangers on a Train.

Rating: 53

Seinfeld: The Little Jerry (1997) (TV)

cockfights, convict dating, bounced check, baldness.

Bonanza: Denver McKee (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529538/

http://cmulrooney.tripod.com/tourneurjacques.html

Seinfeld: The Andrea Doria (1996) (TV)

Newman the postman has stopped delivering mail; the undelivered mail has been placed on Jerry's storage space. Newman is faced with the prospect of a much-wanted transfer to Hawaii and needs to deliver that mail, so Jerry helps him because he wants to get rid of him. George has been deferred in an apartment rental in favor of a man who has survived the Andrea Doria shipwreck. Elaine dates a guy who specializes in insulting break-ups; he calls her "big head", which causes her to develop a neurosis over that part of her body. Kramer has a bad cough but doesn't trust doctors; he finds a dog with a similar problem and accompanies it to the veterinary; he then starts taking the same medication as the dog.

Bonanza: Day of Reckoning (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529531/

http://cmulrooney.tripod.com/bartlett.html

Bonanza: The Hopefuls (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529738/

Amor & Cia. (1998)

English title: Love and Co.

Based on the novella Alves & Companhia, by Eça de Queirós (1st ed. 1925).

A man returns home a little earlier than usual one day and finds his wife and his business partner sitting close to each other in an amorous way.

This tale of quasi-adultery is an interesting comedy of customs. It benefits from a great leading performance and also from being filmed in a historical town, and from nicely staged outdoor sequences.

Rating: 60

Bonanza: Badge Without Honor (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529502/

Primo (2005) (V)

Filmed play. Based on the memoirs "Se questo è un uomo" (If This Is a Man), by Primo Levi (1st ed. 1947, revised 1958).

A monologue. The stage is bare but for a chair and a set of walls. The narration of Levi's recollection of Auschwitz is very vivid and intelligent (both as text and as performance) and makes for a moving viewing experience. On the other hand, it is hard not to imagine how interesting it would be to see a real movie of this, or even a multi-actor play.

Rating: 60

Bonanza: The Mill (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529777/

Frost/Nixon (2008)

A talk-show host sets out to do a TV interview with Nixon right after his resignation from office.

Really not a big deal. If you've seen the trailer, that should probably do.

Rating: 43

Marple: The Sittaford Mystery (2006) (TV)

Loosely based on the novel by Agatha Christie (1st ed. 1931).

A politician who is considered for prime-minister is murdered at a hotel near his mansion. Miss Marple is a guest at his mansion, and so is a young woman who is engaged to the politician's adopted son. With her is a man who claims to be a reporter. At the hotel there are several guests. The politician's personal assistant takes charge of the investigation. A trip to Egypt made in 1927 by the politician may hold the key to the mystery.

Entertaining and well-made whodunit.

Rating: 50

Bonanza: The Mission (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529779/

http://cmulrooney.tripod.com/neilson.html

Bonanza: The Abduction (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529668/

Bonanza: Showdown (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529652/

http://cmulrooney.tripod.com/allenlewis.html

Marple: By the Pricking of My Thumbs (2006) (TV)

Based on the novel by Agatha Christe (1st ed. 1968).

Tommy and Tuppence are a middle-aged couple. Tommy's aunt, who is living at a rest home, dies leaving a letter who throws suspicions over her death. Another guest at the same rest home disappears. Tuppence meets Jane Marple, an elderly woman, who is visiting someone at the rest home. Marple joins Tuppence in an investigation about Tommy's aunt's death. It leads them to a small village.

Entertaining and well-made whodunit.

Rating: 50

Bonanza: Death at Dawn (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529535/

http://cmulrooney.tripod.com/haas.html

Bonanza: Dark Star (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529530/

http://cmulrooney.tripod.com/allenlewis.html

Coeurs (2006)

English title: Private Fears in Public Places.

Several characters, one thing in common: loneliness. A man and a woman who work together as realtors, yet do not have any personal relationship. He lives with his sister, who meets people through date sites in the internet. There is also a couple who is looking for an apartment. He is an army reject and an alcoholic. His favorite bartender, a homosexual whose partner has died, lives with his invalid father.

The script is very British, comical in a mild and antiquated way. It is filmed in a very French way, the emphasis being on melancholy, whence the change of title. It is like watching two films at once, a weird experience.

Rating: 59

Bonanza: Feet of Clay (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529560/

Celebration (2006) (TV)

Two couples sitting at a fancy restaurant are celebrating the wedding anniversary of one of the couples. The men happen to be brothers, the women, sisters. At another table, a younger couple. They talk with one another, with the waiter, with the maîtresse d', and with the restaurant's owner.

Quite hard to describe. The aesthetical effect is based partly on a suspension of decorum. Interesting stuff.

Rating: 57

Bonanza: Bitter Water (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529507/

http://cmulrooney.tripod.com/blair.html

Find Me Guilty (2006)

A drug dealer belonging to the New Jersey Mafia is arrested and convicted. He then must face a new trial, a collective one that seeks to bring down several members of the Mafia. He decides to be his own lawyer.

An interesting film which works mainly as a sociopsychological study. The film does not clarify the reasons behind the verdict. This is not 12 Angry Men.

Rating: 61

Bonanza: San Francisco (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529643/

Steal This Film II (2007)

Documentary about file sharing, peer-to-peer networks, copyright infringement, legal battles, this sort of thing. It is publicly available on the Internet (of course).

Bonanza: The Last Trophy (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529757/

The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)

It's about Ireland's struggle for independence in 1920.

Watchable historical drama. The film tries to problematize the dual issue of a) one country's dominion over another, and b) one class's dominion over others. In my humble opinion, movies with political content such as this one are never truly one-sided (unless you are very influenciable or naive), because you can always interpret it in complementary ways, for instance the hero's death can always be construed as a defeat of his ideas (even if the movie refuses to add a final caption explaining foreign and lesser informed viewers that the current situation in Ireland implies this defeat) as opposed to romantic martyrdom. Anyway, this is a topic for a longer discussion which is not going to happen here. And the film is not that much of a success in the artistic plane to motivate me down that road.

Rating: 50

The History Boys (2006)

A group of high-schoolers (or the British equivalent) in Sheffield, England, is trained by a newly-hired teacher for the admission exams to Oxford and Cambridge.

Easy to watch, but not really much more than an exercise in nostalgia and sentimentality. There is no convergence to a theme, several aspects of school life are shown without a sharp focus. It's very much a theater play, and I wouldn't say a very bright or exciting one.

Rating: 49

Bonanza: The Avenger (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529674/

Seinfeld: The Wait Out (1996) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0697807/

This was a sublime TV show, which got better with time.

The Ground Truth (2006)

Documentary about the process of, in sequence, one, convincing youngsters to join the army with deceitful propaganda, two, shaping them into killing machines during training, three, subjecting them to a barbaric and meaningless war in Iraq, four, not caring for them and their war-originated problems once they get discharged.

Good documentary.

16 Blocks (2006)

An alcoholic cop gets a last-minute assignment of escorting a prisoner to court where he is supposed to testify against a cop.

People are saying this has a very similar premise to that in The Gauntlet, a film I remember little of. The screenplay of 16 Blocks, although founded on a completely implausible set-up, has some reasonably intelligent set-pieces built around the schemes that the old cop engenders in order to accomplish his mission.

Rating: 51

Sybil (2007) (TV)

It is about a woman being treated for dissociative identity disorder, stemming from a childhood of terrible abuse and suffering.

My comments follow the general pattern, namely, that the extreme temporal compression produces a rushedness in the presentation which makes it impossible for the viewer to have an adequate appreciation of the story in its full dimensions, dramatic and otherwise. The direction job is fine, nonetheless.

Rating: 35

Bonanza: Escape to Ponderosa (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529556/

Bonanza: The Stranger (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt0529833/

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Loosely based on the novel Oil!, by Upton Sinclair (1st ed. 1927).

An oil prospector in the turn-of-the-century U.S. makes his way to success. He adopts a son. The social prosperity brought by the oil business favors the appearance of a Christian church between whose leader and the oil magnate a sort of rivalry arises.

A lot of impressive sequences, and a storyline which sheds some light on some sociological truths, e.g. the parasitical quality of religion. The film has limitations, though. The main character seems to solve all his conflicts through murder or violence, in ways that do not seem warranted by the context in which they arise. An intelligent analysis of the film's shortcomings is to be found here. I agree with most of what the reviewer (Dan Sallitt) says, except with his opposition of "charismatic and powerful evil figure" versus "slimy and unattractive one"; these adjectives (except "powerful") are interchangeable here, and as for "evil", I totally reject this simplistic use of this term.

Rating: 60

Bonanza: Desert Justice (1960) (TV)

http://akas.imdb.com/title/tt05295

http://cmulrooney.tripod.com/allenlewis.html

An excellent episode.

Mutum (2007)

Based on the novel "Campo Geral", by Guimarães Rosa (1st ed. 1964).

The film depicts the day-to-day life in a small farm, from the point of view of a boy whose father is rude and hateful.

Frequently absurd, with lots of dead (and often meaningless) shots, and hugs galore (these imaginary country folks sure love a hug). That being said, the film shows signs of intelligence here and there, keeping the persistent viewer attentive for its duration.

Rating: 35

Bonanza: Blood on the Land (1960) (TV)

See IMDb.

A Serious Man (2009)

A Physics professor is facing a series of setbacks in his life, and seeks counselling from his religious leaders.

This film has been pretty well understood by a few commentators in the Internet Movie Database, namely, Stephen R. Cann, Greg Peters, jafdc, MisterWhiplash, and possibly others.

Rating: 67

Bonanza: The Spanish Grant (1960) (TV)

See IMDb.

Summerhill (2008) (TV)

I do not really know much about the real context to which this film is supposedly referring, except that it is about a school which was founded in the 1920's (I think). The plot involves a conflict between the school and some government inspectors. It is a well-done (albeit somewhat superficial) TV-movie, easy to watch and advertising concepts with which I am in total agreement.

Rating: 53

Bonanza: The Fear Merchants (1960) (TV)

See IMDb.

Bonanza: The Gunmen (1960) (TV)

See IMDB.

Shutter Island (2010)

Here also, I will not go beyond a simple record of viewing. This film is worthless, except for mise-en-scene freaks (I stole the expression from Sarris). And maybe cinematography freaks, too.

Rating: 20

Bonanza: A House Divided (1960) (TV)

See IMDB.com for details.

Bonanza: The Last Hunt (1959) (TV)

Just a record of having watched this, go to the Internet Movie Database for more information.

Bonanza: The Outcast (1960) (TV)

I have allowed some back log in my updating. And, to be honest, it does not make sense to copy and paste the Internet Movie Database plot summary here.

Indio Black, sai che ti dico: Sei un gran figlio di... (1971)

American title: Adiós, Sabata.

In Austrian-ruled Mexico, a mercenary is hired to steal a wagonload of gold for the revolutionaries.

Ininterrupted silliness. Dubbed in English.

Rating: 32

Cztery noce z Anna (2008)

English title: Four Nights with Anna.

*SPOILERS*

A peeping-tom and his mischiefs. In flashbacks, we see how he witnessed the rape of the object of his present obsession.

Formally refined, structured in tightly staged set-pieces; the recurrence of clocks is perhaps not accidental, the film having the nature of a sophisticated mechanism, like a silent comedy. The impossibility of viewer identification with an aggressor is a well known fact, but this film may exemplify the extreme opposite problem, that of identifying with a perfect victim. I can't say I have enjoyed it much. It obviously flirts with the surreal, but it leaves a small window towards realism, contaminating the film with implausibilities such as: how can an innocent man be convicted for rape if after the crime the victim has only the rapist's semen in her?

The filmmaker seems to be fond of having male stalkers as main characters in his films (cf. Deep End)

Rating: 54

Combat!: The Volunteer (1963) (TV)

A French boy wants to join the American army.

I.O.U.S.A. (2008)

Documentary about the deficitary situation faced by the U.S. economy. The theme of the evil that the present generation is (allegedly) doing to the future ones is central to this film, as was to An Inconvenient Truth. I find it very interesting in a philosophical sense, but I can't really attribute much value to either film, because they both deal with very complex issues in a very simplified manner. Anyway, I do not live in the U.S., a fact which further limits my interest in them. I could not help watching them, though.

Bonanza: El Toro Grande (1960) (TV)

Hoss and Little Joe are sent to California to buy a bull from a farmer. They go through a lot of adventures. The farmer's daughter sets her mind on marrying Little Joe, etc.

Bonanza: The Sisters (1959) (TV)

Adam starts dating a saloon girl, to his father's distress. She is murdered, and Adam is arrested as the prime suspect. Who would want to kill Adam's girl? Or rather, was she the one whose death was intended?

Bonanza: The Hanging Posse (1959) (TV)

A woman is murdered at her home while resisting a rape attempt. The killer flees, along with two partners (who were in the vicinity but neither witnessed nor took part in the murder). The town people organize a searching posse. The dead woman's husband wants to hang the three men on the spot, as soon as they find them. Adam and Little Joe ride along but oppose summary hanging.

Very good episode.

Bonanza: Vendetta (1959) (TV)

Excellent episode. The best reference for its summary and analysis is probably Christopher Mulrooney's site.

Good (2008)

A Literature professor is coopted by the Nazis because he dealt with the subject of euthanasia in a novel of his. He becomes involved with the Nazi party. In his personal life he has to deal with an aloof wife and a physically deteriorating mother; he gets involved with one of his former students. Also, he must deal with the plights of a Jewish friend.

This is an intelligent film, which investigates the meaning of evil (the irony of the title is evident). Nazi Germany is of course one of the most obviously adequate settings for this sort of investigation, although I am sure there are plenty of other places or situations which could be chosen instead. The film proceeds through a concatenation of events (some external, and some of his own doing) which put the main character in progressively untenable situations. He somehow doesn't seem to grasp their logic (but we do). The effect achieved is tragicomedy, a difficult style, and consequently no small accomplishment. It has been noted by user mackjay2 of IMDB that the main character's situation and behavior is similar to those of character Erik Dorf in Holocaust (1978). I further point out that Good's leading actor has shaped his performance in an identical (or almost) manner as that of the player of that character in Holocaust.

According to the film's credits it is based on C.P. Taylor's 1981 play. For what it is worth (I have not read or seen that play), that play came out 3 years after Holocaust.

Rating: 67

Bonanza: The Truckee Strip (1959) (TV)

The Internet Movie Database is thus: "Caught in the middle of a longtime family feud over a disputed piece of land, star-crossed lovers Joe Cartwright and Amy Bishop try to convince their stubborn fathers to resolve their differences as tension escalates into violence."

Romeo & Juliet.

Aces 'N' Eights (2008)

In the 19th century American West, some ranchers refuse to sell their farms so that a new railroad may pass through them. The local manager of the railroad company employs violence to get rid of these stubborn persons. The opposition finally comes down to one rancher. A negotiator is sent from Washington.

Western of little interest, working on themes and situations which have been explored dozens of times in the past.

Rating: 39

The Four Horsemen (2008)

Four guys who are best buddies enlist to fight in the Iraq War. One of them gets killed. Two of them are given a leave to attend to the funeral and the third one is discharged because of severe injuries; it is an occasion for reflection and crisis.

Mediocre drama.

Rating: 38

Bonanza: The Magnificent Adah (1959) (TV)

A theatrical performance of Mazeppa is taking place in Virginia City. Ben Cartwright wants to marry the leading star, an old friend of his. His sons oppose to that.

This episode has several points in common with "The Julia Bulette Story". In that one, the heroine has a old liaison with a gunfighter, in this one he is an ex-boxer.

Bonanza: Enter Mark Twain (1959) (TV)

Young Sam Clemens arrives in Virginia City and gets a job in the local newspaper. A plot to grab land from the Ponderosa is under way, having a crooked politician as an accomplice.

Bonanza: The Julia Bulette Story (1959) (TV)

Little Joe falls in love with the saloon owner. There is a fever epidemic in Virginia City.

Bonanza: The Phillip Diedesheimer Story (1959) (TV)

The problem of mine cave-ins due to poor support systems is exposed. The efforts of an engineer to improve those systems is at the center of this episode.

Bonanza: The Paiute War (1959) (TV)

An incident involving an attempted rape against Indian women of the Bannock tribe snowballs into a war involving another tribe, the Paiute, and the whites.

I sincerely revoke my bad omens about this show. It has become clear to me that the initial set-up, which I found so corny, has become a mere excuse for the telling of variegated interesting stories involving mining, Indians, and, last but not least, farmers.

Katyn (2007)

In 1940, Poland was occupied simultaneously by the Germans and by the Soviets. All Polish officers were taken prisoners by the Soviets, and eventually most were executed. The film follows the resonances of this massacre on the lives of the relatives and friends of the victims. After the war, the Soviets pinned the blame for the murders on the Nazis.

In general terms this film is a correct enterprise and gives what seems like a good account of the facts. It is anti-dramatic in essence, going for the kaleidoscopic instead of focusing on any particular character with any depth. It is also anti-political, in that it refuses to analyse motivations for the crime (which are, in any case, obvious for anyone who has a little knowledge of how the logic of power works).

Rating: 52

Bonanza: The Saga of Annie O'Toole (1959) (TV)

A man finds gold in the Washoe and gives one of his two claims to his girlfriend in San Francisco. She decides to explore it while he opts for selling his and stay in San Francisco. She goes to Nevada with her father and the latter dies on arrival; she opens a restaurant for the miners. A dispute arises between her and the buyer of the other claim concerning who owns which claim.

This excellent episode completely reverted my expectations toward this show.

Chéri (2009)

Based on the two Chéri novels by Colette, 1920 and 1926, respectively.

The film narrates the relationship between an ex-prostitute and a much younger man, who is the son of one of her colleagues.

What this film has of admirable is the screenwriting, which shows a superior skill in dealing with a literary material which I have not read. The director is a veteran and not at all incompetent, but I imagine that some constraints of an expensive production like this one have taken their toll on the energy and vitality of the mise-en-scene. Particularly the love scenes are appalling.

Rating: 60

Bonanza: Death on Sun Mountain (1959) (TV)

Someone is hunting all the antelope and selling it for exorbitant prices. The Paiute are going hungry. Ben Cartwright offers beef at reasonable prices. The antelope merchant wants to get filthy rich. His partner is, as usual, a scumbag.

Bonanza: The Newcomers (1959) (TV)

Some strangers trespass on the Ponderosa; one of them is a "hydraulical miner" and is up to no good; his partner is a good person who has been deceived. Hoss falls in love with the latter's sister. In keeping with the predominant tone of this show, she doesn't have much time left to live.

Bonanza: Mr. Henry Comstock (1959) (TV)

A con man is saved by the Cartwrights. Little Joe takes the Paiute chief's daughter to a ball; Hoss follows the con man to the mining area, where the latter sets up a fake gold discovery. Note: an accidental discovery of gold is called a "bonanza".

This episode, the ninth, is better than the first one, but I suspect that this show is not exactly my cup of tea.

Bonanza: A Rose for Lotta (1959) (TV)

The Internet Movie Database is right on the money in their Plot Summary: "Lotta Crabtree is hired by mining tycoon Alpheus Troy to lure one of the Cartwrights into town and hold him for ransom in exchange for Ponderosa timber rights."

Judging from this first episode, it's a mystery that this show went on for nearly 14 years. The level of the dramaturgy, as well as of the humor, is very primitive, and there are some aspects of the plot which are downright absurd, especially the fact that the character 'Lotta', despite being a woman of no morals or principles, and pretending to be something else with unflinching cynicism ("It was not about the money", she says), is rewarded by her main victim with a pleasurable dance, and by his brother with a romantic kiss. Particularly hilarious is the contrivance of a different mother for each of the sons (their father is a real bluebeard, I'll say) in order to justify their complete physical dissimilarity, to one another and also with regards to their father.