Combat!: The Farmer (1965) (TV)

The squad is staying at a farm whose owners had to be evacuated. One of the replacements is fond of farming and cares so much about the farm that it jeopardizes the mission.

Apparently silly, but really about a serious issue, namely, that some rural people were not as motivationally connected with the war effort as urban ones were. Values differ, ways of life too. In a way, one could almost say that they were dragged into other people's war.

Zim and Co. (2005)

Three teenage boys in France, each with a different ethnicity, are friends to one another and face the typical problems of that age. The center of the film is the white character who faces a prison sentence in case he doesn't get a job; he finds one which requires a car, so his next problem is to get one.

A social comedy with a light approach, an all-round feel-good movie.

Request for help: I did not understand a couple of lines of dialog, so if anyone with a knowledge of French could enlighten me, I would appreciate it. In the particular context of this film, what is the meaning of the word 'cabile'? I do not remember the exact context in which it appears, but one of the occurrences is a line like this, roughly translated: (girl of Arab ethnicity talking to white boy) "I will date you as long as you are not cabile." A Web search seems to indicate that 'cabile' stands for "Algerian". Is the girl of a different ethnicity? I thought she might be Tunisian as she worked in a Tunisian restaurant. Would she rather go out with a non-Arab?

Rating: 51

Combat!: S.I.W. (1965) (TV)

The Internet Movie Database has provided a succinct synopsis: "An already-controversial replacement adds to his reputation for cowardice by turning up with an apparent Self-Inflicted Wound."

Combat!: The First Day (1965) (TV)

The Internet Movie Database has provided a succinct synopsis: "Saunders and the squad break in four teenage replacements."

Chambre 666 (1982) (TV)

Several film directors answer the question "What is the future of cinema?"

Watching this today, when there seems to be hardly any watchable cinema (or TV, for that matter) being made, is kind of depressing. A bunch of clueless people, that is all: TV is better because there are characters in it; the differences in size of TV and cinema screens, that is the crux of the matter; the studios want fast and sure return to their investments (I am citing only the most interesting ones!). Anyway, asking directors about this is a waste of time. Talent is talent, and if you've got it, you've got it.
So we live in a time of scarce talent, so what?

Combat!: Heritage (1965) (TV)

Hanley, Kirby and a demolitions expert must destroy a German observation point. This will entail the destruction of some works of art which are stored in the same building.

Weak episode.

Zwartboek (2006)

English title: Black Book.

Netherlands, 1944. A Jewish woman is hiding at a Christian home, but all of a sudden is thrown into the dangerous world of espionage for the Dutch Resistance.

There is nothing is this melodrama which transcends what one would expect from a 16-year-old boy's mind. Its only possible claim to anything resembling relevance would be precisely that, I guess: to expose what would excite 16-year-old boys (or a segment of that population anyway). This universe comprises intrigue, treachery, sex, shallow psychology, vulgarity, shock, and the implicit awe at a beautiful woman's infinite endurance.

Rating: 36

No Room for the Groom (1952)

A soldier gets married while on leave and cannot consummate his marriage due to contracting chickenpox on his wedding night. Several months later he gets another one-week leave and returns to his house only to find it occupied by his wife's hostile mother and her many relatives.

A considerable part of this comedy is a variation on the theme of A Jazzed Honeymoon (1919). It gets complicated here by the additional theme of capitalism vs. traditional values as embodied by the rivalry between the hero and the owner of a cement factory. An entertaining film.

Rating: 52

Combat!: The Long Wait (1965) (TV)

Saunders and his men are riding in a truck with some wounded soldiers and a load of ammunitions. They meet with a German machine-gun nest on the road, and must wait for a tank before they may proceed. Meanwhile a soldier who is riding along with them keeps pushing Saunders into doing something other than waiting.

It clearly disregards psychological verisimilitude in favor of dynamics coupled with simplistic discussions. I am not very fond of this episode.

Combat!: Losers Cry Deal (1965) (TV)

[spoilers] Two squads from Lt. Hanley's platoon join forces to take over a Nazi-occupied building; after their success, one of the squads (not Sgt. Saunders') is without a leader. Jackson, a soldier with a repulsive character, considers himself fit to occupy the leadership position until a new sergeant is sent in, but Saunders', whom Lt. Hanley has put in charge, chooses Caje instead. A two-man patrol on the German-occupied vicinities is to be sent out; Caje is assigned to go, and he chooses Jackson to go with him; Jackson, however, holds a mysterious power over Tommy, another private, and has him volunteer in his place.

A great performance by Mike Kellin and a great direction by Vic Morrow perfectly succeed in shaping cinematically the good script by Shirl Hendryx. In case anyone is wondering - and at least one wrong guess is to be found on the Web - Hendryx is male, despite his misleading first name. He was rejected as a WWII combat soldier because of a perforated eardrum, and later enlisted successfully as an ambulance driver. A review of his autobiographical theater play may be read here.

Combat!: The Enemy (1965) (TV)

Hanley takes a German officer as a prisoner in a deserted town and forces him to disarm all the mines and booby traps which were laid there; he must do it before that town's inhabitants return.

Tom Horn (1980)

Beginning of the twentieth century: Tom Horn is a man with a large experience as a tracker. He comes to a small town where a series of cattle thefts is happening, and accepts a job as a "stock detective", that is, he is to hunt and kill the cattle thieves.

Lyrical - elegiacal to be exact - Western. Perhaps an imperfect film - e.g. the relationship between Horn and his girlfriend is rather sketchy and certain parts of it are unconvincing, e.g. her leaving him - but the center of the film - a man who is only half-aware of his self-destructive character, eventually meeting his demise - is as poetic as a film can be. The other of side of the coin, also well handled, is the sacrificial subtheme of society expelling the very instruments it uses for its advancement. All in all, a film worth seeing.

Rating: 60

Combat!: the Hard Way Back (1964) (TV)

During a German attack, Saunders gets pinned down under a beam that collapses inside a house. The private who witnesses this flees, and lies to the rest of the squad, telling them that Saunders died. He laters goes back and saves the sergeant.

So-so episode, not among the best ones.

Combat!: Silver Service (1964) (TV)

[spoilers] Caje and Kirby are taken to a lodging place (I am very sorry for not being able to specify more precisely what that place was, and what they were doing there; I just do not know it) by a garrulous truck driver. Caje leaves to some unspecified destination, whereas Kirby stays. The truck driver plays a loaded dice with some of the soldiers stationed there, and cleans them out of big money. He suspects Kirby knows about his cheating, and leaves in a hurry, not knowing that the fellows over there had taken most of the fuel out of his truck for water heating purposes. The place is attacked by Germans during the night; Kirby manages to escape and while on the road he runs into the driver, stuck for lack of fuel. They walk out of there together, and end up asking for shelter at a house where a young woman lives with her father. They have to leave the house because the Germans are coming and the woman's father is a former resistance member. Throughout the episode the truck driver carries a heavy load with him, which seems to be of high value to him.

Combat!: The Duel (1964) (TV)

[spoilers] Saunders hitches a ride with a trucker who is transporting weapons and ammunition to Lorraine, where it seems that Saunders' men are in great danger from the Germans. They hear a German tank coming their way exactly when a tire goes flat. They have the option of running for their lives, thus leaving the men in Lorraine in a tough spot, but Saunders won't have that: he tells the truck driver to change the tire while he goes to the adjacent hills and tries to stall the tank for as long as he can. He starts shooting at it, then sneaks near it and climbs on it. The tank operators eventually shake him off, but then Saunders inserts an object (a log, I think) inside the traction system, making its motion impossible. This only works for so long, but it gives time to Saunders to go back near the truck. The support system collapses while the driver is under the truck and it falls on him, trapping him there. Saunders changes the tire, but moving the truck would kill the guy under it. Noticing the tank has resumed its motion, Saunders goes back near it and places a flask with gasoline on it; then he shoots it, causing it to go into flames. Now he can go back and free his friend from under the truck.

His Girl Friday (1940)

Second viewing.

A woman journalist is quitting the profession and getting married. She pays a visit to her ex-husband and ex-boss in the newspaper office where she worked, and he plots to make her reverse her decisions by using a man about to be executed as a bait.

Smart and funny, flawlessly directed. I wish I had more time and energy to review this as it deserves.

Rating: 73 (up from 70) (moved to my list of bests of 1940, in the 8th position.)

Combat!: Mountain Man (1964) (TV)

Saunders, Kirby and Caje request a mountain man to guide them through the mountains, so that they may later guide the whole company through that area. The guy is reluctant at first, but then accedes, conditioned to a reward. They are captured by the Germans.

Quite scenic episode, with impressive skiing sequences.

Combat!: Vendetta (1964) (TV)

Hanley's squad meets a Greek colonel who saves their lives. He is a polemic fellow who doesn't much care for wounded soldiers and pulls rank on Hanley so that he and his troops will lead him to a German depot which he plans to destroy, against Hanley's advice.

I don't know where the vendetta is in this. Just as I didn't know where the glory among men was in the previous one.

Top Hat (1935)

Second viewing.

A dancer meets a woman and falls in love with her. She mistakenly takes him for his married producer friend. She has a dressmaker friend who wants to "settle the score".

This seemed better on second viewing. It has a well polished script which works fine as a comedy, and has well integrated dance-and-song sequences, which are of very good taste.

Rating: 61 (up from 55)

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Superman gets rid of all the nuclear weapons. Luthor escapes from jail and builds an evil clone of Superman.

Weak sequel. There isn't much to be said about it that hasn't already been.

Rating: 32