Murder! (1930)

Second viewing; previously viewed on October 17, 1992.

 A juror reluctantly endorses the guilty verdict in the case of an actress accused of murdering another member of her theatrical troupe. He then sets out to find out the real culprit.

This is a very well made film which employs an array of creative filming techniques to tell a story which, unfortunately, is not very interesting. Though the loose ends are carefully tied up in the end, there isn't really much plausibility to the premise of someone who will not provide information which would save her from being hanged, to mention just one of the more conspicuously far-fetched elements of the plot. Upon my first viewing I apparently only had eyes for the film's shortcomings.

Rating: 50 (up from 17)

Speak Easily (1932)

 A college professor with no social life gets a letter telling him that he has inherited a fortune. He quits his job and decides to finally live life. He gets involved with a theater troupe and ends up financially backing them. Of course there is also a girl.

This comedy about "broadening experiences" is not too hard to view, but is not exactly brilliant either. The comicity is somewhat strained, especially at its climactic later section. The idea of achieving better results in a show through accident than on purpose is seemingly an often revisited one. F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre gives some examples of this in his reasoned review of this film. An obscure Brazilian film which I reviewed on this blog is another example. Christopher Mulrooney cleverly remarked Speak Easily's connection with The Blue Angel.

Rating: 40

Death Wish 3 (1985)

 Second viewing; previously viewed on July 16, 2009

My previous synopsis is sufficiently good: "An aging man with a past as a vigilante resumes that role in a fight to dismantle the rule of a gang in a New York neighborhood."

I raised this film's rating a few notches, though I still find it rather nondescript and formulaic; perhaps one could point out as its distinctive feature the tendency to exaggerate the implausibilities which normally inhabit this genre. Watching this middle-aged protagonist perform a task which would be nearly impossible even for a man in his prime gives the film a definitely unreal feel. The apotheosis consisting in all interested parties (vigilante, police, population) joining forces against the criminals intensifies that feel to the verge of oneirism. Here's my previous assessment, wherein I foolishly took the trouble of pointing out one of the numerous implausibilities: "Rather dismal sequel, with practically nothing besides scenes of shootouts in a severely deficient plotline (one thing I could not understand is how the protagonist could buy heavy artillery at a mall whilst the police enforced a strict limitation on firearm possession). Balsam's stupendous performance in a small role is so contrasting with the film's inanity that it becomes a sort of aesthetical oddity." Of course dullness, not implausibility, is this film's main problem.

Rating: 34 (up from 31)

Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947)

Film in episodes built around the work ("drawings, objects and suggestions") of different visual artists. The narrative thread linking the episodes concerns a therapist who is capable of inducing preconceived dreams in his patients.

This cinematic vehicle for a number of painters and sculptors is curious for its novelty but the end result is unsatisfactory. Not all episodes really strive for oneirism: only the first and last ones ("Desire" and "Narcissus") do. The remainder ones are mostly exercises in animation or abstraction ("The Girl with the Prefabricated Heart"; "Discs"; "Circus"; "Ballet"); the live-action "Ruth, Roses and Revolvers" is quite unclassifiable, oscillating between surrealism and self-parody. None of them really impressed me much; the soundtrack by various composers is perhaps the most interesting thing in the movie.

Rating: 36