Sabrina (1995)

Based on the play Sabrina Fair, by Samuel A. Taylor, first staged in 1953, and on the film adaptation which came out the following year.

Sabrina lives in the servants' quarters of a big mansion where her father works as a chauffeur. She has a crush on the boss's younger son David, who is a womanizer and a bon-vivant. The family business is run by David's older brother Linus. Sabrina's father's employer sends her to Paris to do an internship at a fashion magazine, all expenses paid. When she returns, some things have changed around the house, but she has changed as well.

Remaking a 50s movie without some plot modifications is very problematic, and this film suffers for it. Capitalism in the 90s was very different from Capitalism in the 50s. Marriage as a prerequisite for a business merger is a very rare occurrence, to say the least. To complicate things further, the romantic sensibility of the original film was already not exactly in tune with the ages. I do not remember the 1954 film all that well, so I checked for differences between the versions on the IMDB site. It seems the only relevant updating they did was to give the female characters a less subordinate position regarding their working status. But this is perfunctory considering that the main character is modeled after ancient fairy tale princesses and such. When you think about the film, it is hard not to notice that the most interesting character is, after all, Linus, not Sabrina. The film seems to want to demonstrate that it is unhealthy to devote one's life to work before one has sorted out a few essential aspects of one's personal life.

Rating: 32

Paris brûle-t-il? (1966)

English title: Is Paris Burning?

Dramatic reconstruction of the liberation of Paris. The Resistance is divided into several factions. The Allies initially intend to circumvent Paris, but are convinced to enter the city because the Nazis intend to destroy it in case of defeat.

This is a competent historical drama filled with impressive war action sequences, both staged and documental. Some people have complained that the plot is not easy to follow, but that is not true, although it helps to read the Wikipedia entry before watching the film. This film is ultimately a dramatization of a philosophical question: given the choice of saving a work of art and saving human lives, which is preferrable? In the film this question is a bit nuanced, since saving Art (which in the film is epitomized by the Louvre and Notre Dame cathedral) also implies saving the lives of Parisians; the question persists, however, because by circumventing Paris, while it meant sacrificing the art and the people of Paris, also meant putting a faster end to the war, and thus saving a greater number of lives. This is somewhat akin to the problem posed in The Doctor's Dilemma, a play by Shaw.

The version I saw was spoken in English, which meant all the non-anglophone actors were dubbed.

Rating: 60

Basic Instinct (1992)

Second viewing; first viewed on November 11, 1993.

A man is murdered during the sexual act. The police detective in charge of the investigation gets involved with the victim's sexual partner, who is a prime suspect.

Interesting thriller. Extensively parodied, it is by itself a comedy. I liked it better than on my first viewing. I still do not find it a great movie. Opinions apparently have diverged as to whether it is a feminist or a misogynistic movie. Males seem to lean toward the former and females toward the latter interpretation.

Rating: 50 (up from 44)

Above the Law (1988)

Second viewing, first with original audio; previously viewed -- with Portuguese dubbing -- on January 28, 2009.

A cop is suspended from the force and tries to investigate on his own a corrupt CIA agent.

Passable action thriller. Perhaps its most interesting aspect is that, while it attempts to express the view that State organizations are not above the law, it uses a protagonist who puts himself above the law to show it. The film never appears to be conscious of that paradox, except in the fact that in some countries it was titled Nico: Above the Law. Below is my first review of this movie, published here in this blog:

*quote*
A cop investigates a drug dealer and finds that he may be connected to corrupt
government agents. A senator and a priest are potential targets of this criminal
organization.

Dialogue and drama is very dumbed down and the action sequences are well staged.
The concept of a maverick cop defying corruption is an extremely enduring filmic
lineage which apparently developed without any real-life counterpart. In a very
minimum sense, it is done with competence.

*unquote*

Rating: 35 (up from 33)

Maverick (1994)

Second viewing; first viewed on August 14, 1994.

Based on the homonymous TV show created by Roy Huggins. It ran from 1957 to 1962.

A gambler is on his way to a poker tournament which will take place on a riverboat. He does not have the entire amount of the entry fee, so he plans to collect a few debts along the way, and earn the rest through gambling. He has vicious enemies which will do anything to prevent him from entering the tournament.

Western comedy with very lightweight humor, bordering on infantility. As a mild entertainment it works.

Rating: 37 (up from 23)

Suspect (1987)

Second viewing; first viewed on May 14, 1988.

A defense attorney and a member of the jury violate the rule that says they can't have contact with each other when they team up to investigate a murder case where the defendant is a homeless man. They follow a series of clues which might implicate powerful persons.

Suspense drama with very conventional characters and plot elements, but which arranges them in an unconventional manner. It is little more than a mechanical, contrived device, but it is moderately entertaining.

Rating: 40 (up from 28)

Jack (1996)

This film depicts the life of an individual with progeria, a disorder which is characterized by fast aging. Jack is at first homeschooled, but then his parents agree to send him to a school where he has to interact with other kids.

Cinema has courted abnormality ever since its early days. This film is a descendant of a long lineage which goes back to Freaks, and maybe even farther back. There is a certain amount of ambiguity in this sort of film, which borders on dishonesty, in that they somehow exploit the sensationalist aspects of abnormality, even though nearly all of them wrap them in a message of tolerance and open-mindedness about diversity. But Jack is considerably duller than Freaks, that's for sure, mainly because it's basically a monoconceptual movie (I would say it is a one-joke movie but the word joke would be somewhat controversial as applied here). The film's main artistic interest rests on the acting ability of its main performer. The script is weak, though, and oscillates between triteness and schmaltz.

Rating: 30

Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978)

Western. A man fakes his own death and establishes in his will that his two sons, respectively a preacher and a gunfighter, ought to race each other for the inheritance. The race is comprised of several different stages: locomotive racing, mountain climbing, white water rafting, and stagecoach racing. The corrupt mayor, however, has plans to get the inheritance for himself.

Children might enjoy this, but probably not much, especially today's children. It is not very funny, but at least it's eventful. The villain turns out to be the politican (that happens all the time, doesn't it?).

Rating: 30

All That Jazz (1979)

Second viewing; previously viewed between 1983 and 1986.

An overworked choreographer and director who is also a womanizer, a chain smoker, a heavy drinker and a drug user suffers a heart attack and revisits his life choices as he deals wih the prospect of death.

Overrated musical with indifferent secondary characters, a trite approach to its themes, and a tiresome and repetitive structure. Some musical numbers are fine, and lend the movie a degree of watchability.

Rating: 48 (down from 63)

E o Bicho Não Deu (1958)

Translated from the Wikipedia page (words between brackets were my minor improvements on the original):

*begin quote*
New chief of police Dr. [Farias] launches "Operation Animal", determined to stop animal gambling (jogo do bicho) in town. He puts detective Bartolomeu in charge of infiltrating the outlaw organization under the command of Flirt nightclub owner and animal gambling boss (bicheiro) Madruga, and finding out who is backing [his] illegal gambling racket. As he proceeds with the plan, Bartolomeu encounters his childhood friend Jujuba and falls in love with Terezinha, a florist, the daughter of Frederico. But Frederico and Jujuba work for the gambling racket. When he finds out Jujuba is an illegal gambling worker, Bartolomeu chases him and, while doing it, hits his head. As a result of that, he develops a split personality disorder: he is sometimes a friend of Jujuba's [who is also] working for the gambling racket, and other times he is back being a detective. The switch between personalities happens when he hears a whistle.
*end quote*

Unpretentious comedy. It's not exactly remarkable, but has some degree of merit for depicting the persistent social phenomenon of illegal gambling in major cities of Brazil. Despite having all the appearances of a harmless business, illegal gambling has connections with organized crime and is widely used for money laundering. The film is mostly comprised of slapstick action. It has a few musical numbers too.

Rating: 32

The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Second viewing; previously viewed on December 30, 1992.

A private detective teams up with an ex-football player to investigate a dishonest sports club owner whose activities resulted in the death of a stripper.

The humorous dialogue and the eventful succession of action sequences make this a watchable film. The dramatic situations oscillate between downright absurdities and a rehash of elements from a previous film by the same writer. Mostly, it's a mechanical film which fails to generate any real engagement from the viewer.

Rating: 43 (down from 59)

Training Day (2001)

Second viewing; first viewing with original audio; previously viewed, with Portuguese dubbing, on April 17, 2005.

From the Wikipedia page: "Los Angeles Police Department's Officer Jake Hoyt is assigned for an evaluation headed by Detective Alonzo Harris, a decorated narcotics officer. Alonzo is known to be a corrupt cop to several other narcotics officers who are also on the take."

Police drama which exposes the ordeal of a young cop in the face of corruption. It's a non-realistic account, in which a sort of nightmarish fantasy is played out to its ultimate consequences. I found it entertaining and well acted.

Rating: 64 (unchanged)

Garota Enxuta (1959)

A TV station is producing a musical show sponsored by an automobile company. The daughter of the company owner wants to perform on the show, but her father is against it.

As a comedy this is terrible. The plot is banal, and the development is unimaginative. But the film somehow manages to entertain minimally, thanks to the agreeable musical numbers.

Rating: 31

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Based on the novel by Agatha Christie, first published in 1934.

On a train a murder is committed. A private detective who is on board is requested to investigate it. He discovers that several passengers are connected in various ways to a crime committed by the murdered man.

A tedious movie with good production values. It's just talk, talk, talk, and some mountainous landscapes in between. Long spoken expositions about each character's past lives succeed each other in a dizzying fashion and then a logical explanation caps it all. Perhaps the most interesting point of the movie is the implicit suggestion that the protagonist suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The previous version is considered a better movie. I have seen it but at the time it didn't impress me greatly either.

Rating: 37

Mars Attacks! (1996)

Second viewing; first viewing with original audio; previously viewed with Portuguese dubbing on August 1, 2000.

Based on the trading card series released in 1962.

Martians land on the U.S.A. and are at first amicably received by the U.S.A. government. A series of incidents leave the American President in doubt about the aliens' real intentions.

A rather agreeable film. Some of it is very funny, but most of it is just mildly so. The big problem with this film is that TV, VHS and lately digital media have widely exposed 50s and 60s science fiction and turned it into an inexhaustible source of fun for modern audiences; any parody or "tribute" will pale in comparison. Aside from that I can't find anything necessarily wrong with the movie.

Rating: 60 (down from 65)

The Buccaneer (1938)

The context is the War of 1812 between England and the U.S.A.. Pirate Jean Lafitte plays a special part in that war by aiding the Americans. More details may be found in the Wikipedia page.

I was quite impressed with this film from the spectacle angle. It has splendid visuals of the swamps of Louisiana, good battle sequences, and an overall engaging pace. The plot is quite ridiculous in the Hollywood way, but that didn't bother me greatly. The performances are also very satisfactory. I don't suppose any of it will stick in my memory, just as the remake, which I watched in 2007 (and reviewed here), has vanished from it long ago.

Rating: 52